Hi,

I'm interested in canvassing opinions regarding the inclusion of a gun
on future military aircraft. If you listen to some of the blurb out
there (government, aircraft manufacturers, hollywood) it would appear
that its all going to be BVR (beyond visual range) type stuff with no
need for a gun. That seems a bit of a cold-war type idea. It would
appear that the way the world is going that CIC (close in combat) is
going to be a requirement in future combat, namely because:
- it is not going to be that easy to identify the enemy
- bvr assault is not as accurate as people would make you think
- there have been improvements in technology (firing control in
particular) which improves the accuracy of CIC
All of these points would appear to suggest that there are benefits to
including a gun in future aircraft.

However, I've read that one modern aircraft, the eurofighter typhonn,
will not have a gun. The RAF/MOD have apparently decided to drop it on
the grounds of operational costs stating it is unnecessary.

What is going on ?