China’s navy has missiles and drones. Why is it bringing back the ‘big guns’?
From News - South China Morning Post
June 12, 2026
About this episode
The episode discusses China's development of a new naval gun system amidst modern naval warfare trends.
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...
Topics covered
- naval warfare
- military technology
- China's navy
- artillery
- drones
- missiles
Keywords
- China
- navy
- big guns
- artillery
- missiles
- drones
- naval gun system
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: China
Products: naval gun system, 155mm artillery shells
Places: People’s Republic of China, sea, experimental warship
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