Claims that drones will replace artillery repeat a long cycle of technological enthusiasm. Aircraft, rocket artillery, mortars, and space-based weapons have each been presented as reasons tube artillery would disappear. Guns survived because they distribute large quantities of explosive force quickly and at a comparatively sustainable cost. Naval guns preserve the same economic logic while also supporting troops ashore and giving ships an inexpensive response to smaller threats.
Notable Point · 38:32-40:08
New weapons repeatedly fail to make artillery obsolete
Aircraft, rockets, mortars, space weapons, and drones have all been cast as artillery replacements, yet guns retain a powerful cost-per-effect advantage.