A large combatant may be optimized for air defense, but its missiles, guns, helicopters, anti-ship weapons, and anti-submarine systems make it more than a single-mission platform. Specialization becomes harder to sustain as displacement and cost rise. A navy able to build a 10,000- or 12,000-ton ship for only one task would need an unusually large force and budget. Ship design therefore balances a primary emphasis against the practical need to perform several fleet tasks.
Notable Point · 10:32-12:51
Why large warships become general-purpose assets
Warship size and cost push even specialized destroyers and cruisers toward broad, general-purpose capability.