One explanation offered for avoiding the word cruiser is its perceived association with imperial history. A second is financial: a destroyer sounds smaller and cheaper to a treasury even when the proposed ship is large and heavily equipped. The Canadian Surface Combatant, Type 83, and Japan's helicopter-carrying destroyers illustrate the distance between title and function. Historical labels such as through-deck cruiser and aviation cruiser show that this kind of terminological manoeuvre is not new.
Notable Point · 23:31-27:31
Why navies avoid calling modern ships cruisers
Political sensitivity and budget presentation help explain why cruiser-like ships are described as destroyers, frigates, or surface combatants.