The strongest forecast concerns growth in the size of independent uncrewed escorts. Requirements for range, speed, and seakeeping are expected to push them beyond early thousand-ton designs, toward roughly 2,000 and eventually 2,700 tons. Advanced stabilization does not remove the need to cope with the sea itself. Other aspects of future fleet design remain open to debate. Ocean operations extend beyond individual regions and require enough hull volume to carry the fuel for those distances.
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Ocean seakeeping puts a floor under uncrewed ship size
The final forecast rests on a physical constraint: ocean-going vessels need enough size for fuel, range, speed, payload, and survival in real seas.