When naval guns outrange their sensors

What happens when a warship's guns outrange its sensors?

The nominal range cannot be exploited reliably, so sensor improvement and first detection become decisive.

A gun's nominal range offers little advantage when the ship cannot detect and track a target at the same distance. The immediate response is better reconnaissance, sensors, and fire control rather than simply longer-ranged ammunition. An opponent may face the same mismatch. Combat therefore becomes a race to find and identify the other force before either can exploit its full gun range.