The counterfactual retains the Type 45's 48 fixed Aster cells and proposes roughly nine StanFlex positions around the ship. A presence deployment could use some of them for extra boats while retaining the fixed missiles and 4.5-inch gun. When frigates were scarce, a variable-depth sonar module might provide an emergency ASW option, though it would be an imperfect substitute. A task-group air-defence fit could instead use five modules carrying eight Sea Ceptor missiles each. Forty CAMM rounds alongside 48 Asters would produce an eighty-eight-missile load. The example treats this increase as a module-fitting decision within a hull designed for the standard.
Chapter · 59:17-1:01:38
A modular Type 45 with an eighty-eight-missile fit
A Type 45 could retain its Aster battery and add forty Sea Ceptors, or use module positions for extra boats and an imperfect emergency sonar fit.