What kind of Argentine cruiser would have worried Britain more?

What Argentine cruiser could have caused greater concern than Belgrano in the Falklands War?

A modern Soviet-style missile cruiser would have been a much harder problem than the gun-armed Belgrano.

General Belgrano and a hypothetical Soviet-style missile cruiser such as a Slava or Kirov type would pose very different threats. Belgrano's guns and escort group were dangerous, but they required the cruiser to close to a comparatively short engagement range. A modern missile cruiser could threaten the British task force from much farther away and force a different air-defence and targeting problem. Kirov entered service in 1980, making the comparison technologically possible even though Argentina never possessed such a ship. Weapon reach, sensors, and salvo potential matter more than displacement alone when judging a surface threat.