The proposed general-purpose escort begins with Mark 41 VLS, a towed sonar array, computers for ASW, and rafted machinery. A hangar and flight deck would support crewed and uncrewed aircraft. Air-defence equipment adds another decision about how much capability the ship should carry. Together those choices start to resemble an Arleigh Burke, a capable design whose construction and crewing demands limit how many can be fielded. An unnamed claim that Constellation should become a premier hypersonic-defence ship coordinating satellite radar is explicitly rejected as outside the intended frigate role. The requirement is therefore a boundary to settle and accept, since each extra mission can move the ship toward a smaller destroyer.
Notable Point · 40:35-43:49
The general-purpose frigate can become a mini-Burke
The proposed escort fit approaches an Arleigh Burke as ASW, aviation, and air-defence requirements accumulate, raising the question of where a frigate's role should end.