Weapons are rapidly evolving. Weapons are getting smaller and more numerous and, potentially, cheaper. Huge investments in big ships lock in whatever the technology of the day is. Even though they can be updated, the problem is that the entire concept of a large ship is probably obsolete. Further, you are stuck with whatever you designed for thirty to fifty years. Look how quickly and unexpectedly the battleship became obsolete.
We won’t know how badly we failed, or how spectacularly we succeeded in a design until actual combat. Frankly, I’d prefer more numerous small ships spread over a larger area.
“We won’t know how badly we failed, or how spectacularly we succeeded in a design until actual combat. Frankly, I’d prefer more numerous small ships spread over a larger area.”
Agree, we won’t know if our current capital ships, carriers, can successfully withstand a missle attack until they’ve been tested in combat. I know that the U.S. Navy won’t send any of our carrier groups through the Straits of Taiwan or the South China Sea....