China’s navy has missiles and drones. Why is it bringing back the ‘big guns’?

In an era of naval warfare defined by air superiority, precision missiles and autonomous drones, China’s navy appears to be bringing back the “big guns”.A new naval gun system is said to be in development which takes 155mm, or 6.1-inch, artillery shells.That would make it the largest of its kind in the world today.The naval gun has recently been spotted undergoing sea-based performance testing from an experimental warship, which suggests it is moving closer to being deployed by the People’s Liberation Army Navy.Its experimental ship, the Wu Yunduo, was seen heading towards waters near Dalian, in northeast China, in early May and returned about two weeks later, according to reports on Chinese social media.Sea trials of a main gun usually involve live-fire testing to evaluate stability of the platform, fire control accuracy and continuous firing reliability under different conditions.The 6,000-tonne experimental vessel was photographed in a shipyard with the huge gun installed on its bow in February, with images of the vessel and naval gun posted online. The location was identified as the Liaonan Shipyard in Dalian, Liaoning province.