Only globally oriented medium powers need a new battleship-scale combatant

If a surface combatant equivalent in status to a battleship appeared, could navies other than the United States or China procure and operate it?

Regional navies probably would not try, but globally active medium powers could fund one if it offered an indispensable capability comparable to a carrier or SSBN.

Regional navies focused on nearby peers would probably see little value in such an expensive surface combatant. Medium powers with global naval commitments would instead ask whether the ship provided a capability they could not obtain another way. If it became as essential to modern operations as an aircraft carrier or a ballistic-missile submarine, those states could find the money despite the political and practical burden. If the mission remained optional, they would avoid the cost. Procurement therefore follows strategic necessity rather than the prestige label attached to a battleship-equivalent hull.