Iran can fire all the way across the Persian Gulf. These ships won’t be safe there. Also, Iran has between 30-50 thousand mines stockpiled. They would cut off Saudi Arabia for generations. SA needs a new generation of swarm mine defenses. Current methods would be ineffective against that many mines. The BAE self-contained mine hunter, which is just one use, costs $45,000 each.
Yeah, but they aren’t anywhere near as sexy or as much fun for admirals and politicians to show off and play with than a great big honkin’ warship.
The most effective weapons systems of the present and future are probably also some of the most boring.