The River class as a general-purpose destroyer

Is the Canadian River-class combatant really a pocket cruiser?

No. It is a general-purpose destroyer built from a strong anti-submarine frigate baseline with a useful but not top-tier air-defence layer.

The River class is placed at the boundary between a high-end frigate and a lower-end destroyer. Its hull and much of its design retain the emphasis of the anti-submarine frigate from which it developed. Added air-defence capability broadens its role, but the assessment rates it more highly in anti-submarine warfare than in air warfare. Weapon names alone cannot settle that distinction: magazine size, sensor height and computing capacity also matter. A ship expected to perform both missions at the highest level would need more space and resources to support them simultaneously.