About building a plane to support ground forces an air force general said, “Look, if it isn’t faster and flying higher than the last one, I don’t even want to hear about it.”
I think the Navy has the same mindset. Nobody wants to command a tiny ship. They want big ones costing lots of money. It’s about ego and it’s about promotions.
Not my experience in the Navy. Small commands precede large commands and provide more opportunity for command.
The Navy pushed the small, questionably capable LCS as it was simultaneously deommisioning the poorly armed FFGs.
Frankly, my preference would be to build small CVHs on DDG51 hulls, with stressed decks for the F-35 VTOL. Besides attack helicopters and F-35s, I would also put VLS into the deck edges.
The concept would be to run them in strike groups with a standard DDG or CG. The VLS would be controlled from the shooter, with safety releases aboard the CVH.