Strike-length launchers give a ship both offensive and defensive options, while cell count provides a rough indication of its scale. Around 32 cells is suggested as a frigate-level fit, with larger batteries moving toward destroyer territory. This is explicitly a rough rule because ships were designed under different strategic assumptions. The criticism is that some 1990s and early-2000s designs assumed great powers could choose whether and when to fight, weakening the case for deep magazines.
Notable Point · 1:22:57-1:24:12
Post-Cold War assumptions and shallow missile magazines
A rough frigate-destroyer cell-count rule leads into criticism of the strategic assumptions behind limited missile capacity.