Q&A ยท 2:30:50-2:31:18

Could Second World War battleship shells be guided?

GPS guidance is decades beyond wartime capability, while radio or laser guidance still faces the severe problem of surviving launch from a 16-inch gun.

Question

How would the war change if 16-inch shells had GPS guidance?

Short answer

GPS requires much later infrastructure; radio guidance is more conceivable, but making the control system survive firing would be extremely difficult.

Notes

The answer separates navigation infrastructure from projectile engineering. GPS guidance first requires a satellite system that lay decades beyond Second World War capability. Radio guidance is more imaginable, but the shell still needs control surfaces and electronics that survive firing from a 16-inch gun. The extreme acceleration and shock make a plausible guidance concept very different from a practical battleship projectile.