Where azimuth pods could serve in naval fleets

Will azimuthing propulsion pods become more common in military ship production?

The participants see potential in mine warfare and sufficiently quiet ASW applications; Alex also suggests supplementary units, while another participant doubts widespread carrier-group adoption.

An azimuthing propulsion unit can turn its thrust around the ship, giving steering control without relying on a separate rudder. One participant doubts that this arrangement will spread widely through carrier groups but sees value for mine-countermeasure ships and, if sufficiently quiet, ASW work. Alex suggests that auxiliary propulsion units could also be installed on ships. Here, auxiliary refers to supplementary units, rather than a particular category of naval support vessel. The participants therefore differ over how broadly the technology will be adopted.