How should a large fire-control suite be judged when its demonstrated ability to engage many targets produced little practical benefit?
Short answerCompare the extra engagement capacity with its opportunity cost, including the weight that could have supported other equipment.
NotesA U.S. Navy ship could carry enough fire-control systems to engage many targets at once, but demonstrated capacity alone does not show that the arrangement was worthwhile. Each director and related system consumed weight that could have supported something else or simply been saved. The design therefore has to be judged against those displaced alternatives. Extra engagement capacity was useful only if it justified its weight and opportunity cost.