Radar, still being tested and fitted in the late 1930s, is expected to be widespread by 1944 and to change both naval aviation and gunnery control. Radar-directed fire control would alter gun mounts and engagement methods before fleets acquired wartime combat experience. Without treaty cumulative limits, destroyer and cruiser designs can evolve more freely as well. British or American cruisers might enter service with near-automatic 6-inch or 8-inch weapons. Continued British cruiser construction and development could put an automatic 6-inch gun into service by 1944, or perhaps 1943.
Notable Point · 1:34:01-1:35:34
Radar and automation reshape the delayed-war fleets
Five extra years allow radar, radar-directed fire control, aircraft, and automatic naval guns to mature before fighting begins.