Three specialist frigates versus one general-purpose class

Would the U.S. Navy be better served by separate air-defense, ASW, and land-attack frigates?

A general-purpose frigate trades some specialist performance for a wider range of duties when it is on station.

The discussion recalls three specialist frigate variants in the American approach to NFR-90, tentatively placing their magazines at about 64 cells each. It compares the performance of a dedicated air-defense, ASW, or land-attack design with the chance that the relevant ship will be available. A general-purpose frigate is described as a compromise across those missions. The distinction is between performance in an assigned specialty and usefulness when a ship is already on station.