OK, so the Rooskies can launch their version of Tomahawk from small ships.
I’ll bite. Why does the US need large ships? It isn’t the physics of launching the missile.
Maybe because the command and control infrastructure for the Tomahawk needs it, and Russia has offloaded that capability to other ships, and/or ground based stations, we aren’t seeing. Which has its own mix of virtues and drawbacks.
I don’t think it has anything to do with the missiles; if you compare the sizes of various USN and Russian missiles (leaving out ballistic missiles), you will find the Russian ones are invariably heavier/bigger. With its reliance on satellite targeting, you can launch a modern cruise missile from any ship.
The difference in sizes is a question of naval orientation. The U.S. needs big ships since its primarily an expeditionary force, while the Russian navy has to worry about its immediate vicinity. The smallest major surface combatant class in the USN -the LCS- is almost twice the displacement of Russia’s new Project 20380 class corvettes, which can carry the Kalibr missile. The LCS’s current main anti-ship weapon is probably the Hellfire missile!.
We have had that capability since the 1980’s.
Could it be the physics of large Pentagon budgets?
Depends what you want the ship to be able to do.
Is your ship going to sail from San Diego to Diego Garcia, or is it going to go in circles in the Caspian Sea?
We slapped 8 Harpoons on a friggin Pegasus. Tomahawk isn't so much larger that the same kind of thing couldn't be done, if it was built in the right Congressman's district...
It’s much simpler. You get the target coordinates from Intel. You digitally load the coordinates into the missiles. You start up and calibrate the inertial navigation and Glonass GPS systems. You press the red button.
Everything is built into the missiles nowadays. All that’s needed is an input computer and wiring to enter the targeting info.
The US could put them in smaller ships but bigger ships means bigger funds and greater operational range. Which of course has been figured out by the Russians. Lacking the funds they extended the range of their missiles to reduce the operational range required of the ships firing them hence allowing them to use smaller ships, closer to port.
We are almost out of Tomahawks - the new improved version will not ready for some time ... maybe the Russians will sell us some of there’s?
I'm going to guess that larger ships can deal with rough seas better (like the Atlantic in winter), can travel further before needing more fuel/supplies, and can stay at sea for longer periods of time.
A multitude of smaller ships seems more survivable than a small number of big ships. Particularly if they can coordinate air defense.