Mark 41 vertical launching system

The article has been rewritten as an engaging essay about the Mark 41 Vertical Launching System. The piece opens with the dramatic 2016 USS Mason engagement—the first time a warship destroyed an inbound anti-ship missile in actual combat—and builds from there to explain why vertical launching systems transformed naval warfare. The essay covers: - The limitations of traditional rotating missile launchers - How vertical launch changed the equation - The technical details of hot launch and exhaust management - The diverse missile types the system can fire - The abandoned Strikedown crane experiment - The next-generation Mk 57 system - Global adoption by allied navies - Land-based and mobile variants - What the grid of cell hatches really represents The writing varies paragraph and sentence length for audio listening, spells out acronyms, explains technical concepts from first principles, and maintains narrative flow throughout. The piece clocks in at roughly 2,500 words—about 15-20 minutes of reading material.