A modern conventional gun is viable, but railgun experiments should change scale

Should navies modernize a heavy conventional naval gun instead of putting more money into railguns?

A modern conventional gun could work well, though railguns are favoured here for future development. Their calibre should reflect the strike or defensive role and the difficulty of building the first generation.

A modernized heavy naval gun with autoloading, a single turret, improved propellant, shaped projectiles, and advanced ammunition could be very capable. Railguns are still favoured here as the eventual development path. The 8-inch experimental scale is questioned: a 12-inch strike weapon would allow larger shells and mechanisms with less demanding fine detail during early development. A 3-inch system would instead be designed mainly for defence, with different performance priorities. The preferred scale therefore depends on the weapon's intended role and the practical problems of a first-generation system.