Why surface combatants may pass 30,000 tons again

Could new non-carrier surface warships grow to 30,000 tons as modern destroyers approach World War II cruiser size?

Yes, especially if a navy combines fleet command, large missile magazines, helicopters, uncrewed craft support, and self-defence in an enlarged amphibious-style hull.

Supporting uncrewed escorts could make a crewed task-group leader larger because it would need maintenance personnel, command staff, helicopters, sensors, and additional defensive weapons. The initial estimate places ordinary crewed combatants around a 20,000-ton ceiling, while a larger command-and-support ship could exceed 30,000 tons. A notional Type 83 paper design discussed here already reaches roughly 24,000 tons before its full load of missiles, crew, and stores. A separate proposal uses an enlarged amphibious-style hull with substantial vertical-launch capacity, a mixed helicopter and UAV group, and a well deck adapted to repair and rearm uncrewed surface vessels. Providing enough speed to accompany the fleet would further increase its size. This is a speculative combination of existing ship functions, with a small production run considered more plausible than replacing ordinary escorts with such large vessels.