A Tillman-sized missile cruiser grows into a vast arsenal ship

What would a 1978 Tillman-sized American missile cruiser built in reaction to leaked Kirov intelligence look like?

An enlarged nuclear strike cruiser with powerful sensors, heavy guns, and helicopters, later imagined with hundreds of VLS cells. The missile count expands during the speculation and is not a fixed 1978 specification.

The starting point is an enlarged American nuclear strike cruiser proposed in 1978 in response to intelligence about Kirov. It would carry an exceptionally powerful Aegis installation, probably two reactors, and possibly guns drawn from the Des Moines class. The design then shifts toward a later configuration with helicopters and a vast vertical-launch battery that could supply much of a carrier group's missile armament. An initial figure of about 400 cells grows into a suggestion of 400 forward and 400 aft, divided between air-defense missiles and Tomahawks, with ASROC also available. Those changing numbers describe the imagined scale of the arsenal, without establishing a settled design specification.