The ammunition argument extends from battleship shells to modern vertical-launch system missiles. A costly missile must move from the supply ship to an escort and then be manoeuvred safely to a cell on a hull with little clear deck space. The handling problem is difficult and risky enough that navies no longer routinely reload VLS cells at sea. A Pacific force may therefore need a specialist stores ship working inside a protected bay, recreating the logic of a mobile forward base.
Notable Point · 1:52:29-1:54:22
VLS rearming revives the forward-base problem
The difficulty of loading vertical-launch missiles at sea may push modern navies back toward protected forward anchorages and specialist stores ships.