How missiles displaced guns as the main surface-warship weapon

When did missiles become more viable than guns as a warship's main armament?

Their range and guidance made them increasingly useful, with missile warfare becoming especially prominent by and after the Falklands War.

Missiles gave surface ships gun-like reach while carrying their own guidance to the target. Their rise belongs to a transitional period when submarines and aircraft remained the principal ship-killing systems. Missile advocacy predated the Falklands War, but that conflict made missile strike and missile defence much more prominent in naval thinking. The change was gradual, driven by range, guidance, and combat experience rather than a single date when guns became obsolete.