>>> I’ve been an advocate of this purported class of Frigate for years now. It is EXACTLY what the Navy needs...small crew, big numbers and advanced weapons and sensors. We need 100 of them.
In my prior posts I’ve been calling for Corvettes. Not necessarily as big as described here but with a heavy missile capability. This is the sort of thing we need. Particularly with the LCS program sliding into the abyss.
It depends on the what your operational needs are, then. Corvettes do not have the kind of the expeditionary range or can carry the kind of sensors (radar, towed sonars) that a frigate can. So heavy missile capability may well become meaningless. Besides if you are talking of stuff like anti-ship missiles, the Arleigh Burkes could in theory carry a far heavier load if the Harpoon were modified for vertical launch.