I can't. I think it's the RIGHT ANSWER.
These ships are about the same size as the old Adams Class Destroyers and can carry out sea control operations independently against just about anyone. The crew is but 150men. Has the 76mm rapid-fire gun along with Phalanx...and VLS for a mix of AAM and Harpoon.
They're cheap compared to EVERYTHING ELSE we are building and still better than just about any other ship built by anybody else.
The only way I would augment them is with a second gun of the 5"/62 caliber gun. I would also add a second version without helo pad but with another 24 tubes of VLS.
They'll sell a bunch of these.
I fully agree with you — the USN needs to replace its FFG-7 class of frigates and it needs something like a corvette sized combatant to free-up the frigates.
However, the people that count in the USN are not going to do this because they’ve committed to that piece of junk called the LCS and they absolutely will NOT change course. Instead of replacing the FFG-7s, the USN has opted for the awful LCS and more of the Flight III DDG-51 class. That’s totally foolish because the DDG-51 is not needed to do frigate or corvette jobs. The LCS cannot do the frigate or corvette job at all.
This is the reality that exists. Will the USN change its course? In a word, NO. I don’t like it, you can see the problems, but the people who make these decision will not hear alternatives now that they’ve committed themselves (and their careers). It is what it is, unfortunately.