What a modern merchant escort carrier would require

What would a modern merchant-hull escort carrier look like?

It could carry many helicopters or drones, but yard capacity, speed, aviation support, and aircraft availability would determine whether the conversion was useful.

A long-war escort carrier might operate compact uncrewed helicopters with dipping sonar and light torpedoes because existing Merlin numbers are insufficient. Very large container ships would be difficult to convert and may lack the speed needed for fixed-wing operations. A smaller Atlantic Conveyor-style ship would be more practical as an aircraft transport than as a full escort carrier. One rapid-conversion concept removes the after container stacks and fits a prefabricated hangar module, showing that aviation support spaces matter as much as exposed deck area.