For more than 300 years the offensive fighting capability of a warship was based on guns. The rise of air power during the second world war led to the deployment of missile systems onto warships to provide a defensive screen, an anti-surface warfare capability and a land attack capability at long range (i.e. large stand-off). A key enabler has been the development of sophisticated sensor systems, to supply accurate targeting and situational awareness information. Throughout all of these changes, the conventional powder gun has still retained its place as a flexible weapon system. After a period of steady evolution in warships, technology is appearing at the start of the 21st century with the potential to revolutionise their capabilities. Starting with a review of the research carried out into electric guns on behalf of the UK Ministry of Defence, and set into a historical context, this paper contains an overview of the emerging weapon and launch technologies. The common thread is that each of these systems will demand significant amounts of electrical power, and the purpose of the paper is to set the scene and to provide an introduction to a series of detailed papers in the 'Future Combat Systems' session of the conference.
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