The concept studies considered far more than the ship eventually selected. Alternatives ranged from incremental Burke improvements to a 256-cell aviation or power-projection cruiser with amphibious capability. Other branches included small ASW-focused combatants, arsenal ships with varying VLS capacity, and modular expeditionary support vessels. The selected family centered on a roughly 128-cell multi-mission littoral combatant, one choice among several very different fleet architectures.
Notable Point · 16:43-18:15
The discarded surface-combatant alternatives
The Navy compared upgraded Burkes, a 256-cell power-projection cruiser, smaller combatants, and modular support ships before selecting a 128-cell littoral-combatant direction.