A hybrid screen depends on communications that an opponent can attack through satellite denial, jamming, or hacking. The vessels themselves still face salt-water corrosion, electrical fires, machinery failures, and the need for technicians to reach them, probably by helicopter. Useful uncrewed escorts therefore need redundancy and subdivision to remain operable until repairs arrive, while the missiles and radars they carry are already expensive. Calling them cheap risks hiding the real price until a navy has committed to the concept.
Notable Point · 1:24:31-1:26:55
Uncrewed escorts are not cheap expendable missile boxes
The closing caveat explains why communications, jamming, corrosion, maintenance access, redundancy, subdivision, radars, and missiles make useful uncrewed escorts costly.