“Bi-metal construction often has this sort of problem especially where there are wide temperature extremes from the Water to the Air temperatures.”
Also, that in a salt water environment, you get electrolysis that degards the metals. Navy learned that years ago. Why would they still try it today?
Why would they still try it today?
Because it’s a “cheaper” construction methodology... supposedly. Yeah sure it’s lighter for the superstructure but you lose a tremendous amount of “armor” capability and aluminum has shown a tendency to melt and deform easily in a fire at sea situation.
If it had been me and weight was of a paramount concern I would have gone with a carbon fiber construction such as you see on the Airbus aircraft or the 787. Sure it’s a bit radical for sea-going warship design but I would have loved to have a prototype built to test it all out in a real-world environment.