Q&A · 3:08:17-3:09:18

Missiles, not jets, displaced the Royal Navy's Bofors

Postwar standardization favored Bofors over an expensive Pom-Pom upgrade, but faith in missile-only ships later pushed medium guns aside.

Question

Did jet aircraft make the Bofors obsolete just as the Royal Navy standardized on it?

Short answer

No. Britain selected Bofors to avoid costly Pom-Pom redevelopment, and later missile-only thinking rather than jets drove guns off ships.

Notes

The Royal Navy chose the established Bofors path because modernizing the older Pom-Pom would have required substantial new investment. Jet aircraft did not immediately make the Bofors useless. Missile-era doctrine instead encouraged designers to remove guns broadly, an approach associated with early concepts for ships such as the Type 22 frigate.