Proposals to replace destroyers with numerous small uncrewed craft have to account for the size of the weapons and the demands of operating thousands of miles from home. Persistent ocean deployments require substantial fuel, engines, and the ability to cope with heavy seas. Automation has advanced much further in routine processes than in shipboard maintenance or responding to accidents. One possible arrangement is a crewed warship at the centre of its own group of uncrewed assets. That command ship would still need weapons of its own. Removing its armament would not make it immune from attack while it directed armed vessels, since it would remain their command centre.
Chapter · 1:34:45-1:37:58
Uncrewed escorts still need endurance and shipboard maintenance
Small uncrewed craft face ocean endurance and maintenance demands, while an unarmed vessel directing them would still be a wartime target.