A proposed alternative Spruance fit replaces the forward 5-inch gun with the lightweight 8-inch weapon, or fits two 8-inch guns. The preference is for introducing the larger gun on this production class. Although an initial remark connects Tomahawk VLS installation to the absence of the gun, the immediate qualification is that the ships probably would still have received VLS with an 8-inch battery. The wider counterfactual imagines other navies reacting once the armament became known during construction in the early 1970s. Possible responses include a British 6-inch gun and renewed Russian interest in larger guns. These are speculative reactions to an armament choice that was never adopted.
Notable Point · 40:06-42:57
What an 8-inch Spruance might have changed
An alternative Spruance with 8-inch guns prompts speculation about foreign gun choices, while retaining the likelihood that Tomahawk VLS would still have been added.