France's limited postwar resources make borrowing unused American Alaska-class ships or reworking Jean Bart alternatives to building an entirely new counter. The same scenario anticipates Stalingrad conversions that replace the rear turret with a helicopter deck. The distance between the remaining main battery and the stern would leave space for anti-ship missiles near the superstructure while keeping them clear of gun blast. Comparable arrangements could suit the proposed British ship and a reworked Jean Bart. As missiles become more useful, new construction would probably move toward strike cruisers instead of successive generations of gun battlecruisers. American strike-cruiser projects and eventual Soviet Slava- or Kirov-like ships illustrate the possible successors.
Notable Point · 1:29:24-1:32:24
From Stalingrad counters to helicopter and missile cruisers
French reuse of existing ships and Soviet helicopter conversions lead toward a counterfactual generation of large missile cruisers.