Radar-guided weapons reshape capital ships

The likely systems are transitional weapons rather than mature Cold War missiles: beam-riding rockets, radio-guided ammunition, and radar-controlled launchers. Lack of wartime technology sharing means each navy follows a more distinctive path from existing national experiments. Large ships have room for directors and launchers, and battleships may exchange secondary-gun barbettes for air-defense weapons as their task-group role changes. Destroyers can combine an early missile or guided rocket with torpedoes, using the long-range weapon to damage a target before closing. Smaller powers may prize such systems as an offset to the much larger British and American gun fleets.