Type 91 vessels as Type 45 force multipliers

Could the proposed Type 91 enter service early enough to multiply the combat power of Type 45 destroyers?

There should be time if Type 45 remains into the 2040s as projected in the discussion, but Type 91 would need sustained funding to become a useful force multiplier.

The service-life forecast keeps Type 45 in use into the 2040s, allowing an overlap with Type 91 if development receives sustained funding. A capable destroyer can use uncrewed vessels to add combat power while retaining the ability to fight independently. The concern is greater when a mothership depends on those vessels for its principal combat capability. The separate CCV designs discussed range from about 5,000 to 12,000 tons. At the smaller end, a hull close to the Type 23's quoted 4,900 tons could be so full of computers and communications equipment that little space remains for weapons. At the larger end, the concept resembles a fully equipped destroyer. Those alternatives remain unsettled, and the building decisions extend across future parliaments.