Naval classification follows a recurring cycle. Ships grow because sensors, weapons, aviation facilities, endurance, and support infrastructure all require volume. Eventually a class becomes too large or costly for the lower-end work attached to its name. Navies then introduce a smaller type, only for the same accumulation of requirements to begin again.
Notable Point · 1:25:46-1:26:06
Why warship categories keep growing and resetting
Frigates and corvettes grow as navies add infrastructure and capability, until the ships become too large and a new small category begins the cycle again.