The Ship Operational Characteristics Study and Surface Combatant Force Requirement Study began in 1987 and reported in 1989. They fed the search for a future surface combatant, but the Cold War ended before their successor program matured. Additional Arleigh Burke variants were ordered as a stopgap in December 1991. This temporary answer remained the fallback in 2008 and beyond because the Navy repeatedly failed to deliver a modern replacement.
Chapter · 10:46-12:19
Cold War studies and the recurring Burke stopgap
Late-Cold-War surface-force studies identified a successor need, but the end of the Soviet threat turned improved Burkes into a stopgap that kept recurring for decades.