Will navies need purpose-built drone carriers?

Where do purpose-built carriers for UAVs and drones fit into future naval aviation?

Small drones can be spread across the fleet, while large reusable fixed-wing drones will probably operate from aircraft carriers rather than demand a distinct ship type.

A separate ship is difficult to justify for compact loitering weapons that many combatants can carry. Distributing them across a task force preserves launch options without concentrating every expendable system on one vulnerable hull. Long-range reusable fixed-wing drones become large enough to need familiar launch, recovery, storage, and maintenance facilities. Those requirements make the existing aircraft-carrier form, with future modifications, the likely drone carrier rather than an entirely separate ship type.