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Posted by Ralph Wood on November 27, 2025, 10:59:09, in reply to "Re: Arleigh Burkes are more expensive - yes, but..."
Regarding the unmanned portion of things:
https://www.twz.com/air/navy-to-simplify-drone-ship-plans-focus-on-containerized-payloads-that-look-alike
Two functions..."Sensors" (ISR) or weapons. There would be sensor packages for the unmanned ships in an ISR capacity. Picture multiple ISR unmanned ships linked to one or two manned ships with their own sensor suite plus more unmanned ships with weapons packages. Then picture the additional sensors the manned "mother ships" can also deploy on smaller drones: air, surface and sub-surface. It's not what can be stuffed onto the manned platform. It's about what you can stuff onto a "fleet" of hulls like this. All that is needed is a hull that "guides and deploys" everything. Very little needs to be "integrally" a part of it.
Size would be a matter of cost. Lots of small inexpensive hulls, or the biggest hull affordable, or something in between. Not the cheapest thing we can get, but not the biggest thing we could build either. That decision is "to be announced." Cheaper means more quantity. More quantity means more of anything is actually deployed. Smaller usually means cheaper. I would go for the smallest hull that still meets the needs. Like you wrote...sea keeping and range etc. I would be less concerned about how much I could get on it, and more concerned with how many I could have to put things on. 
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The requirements for air-defence are now higher than earlier - likely both for sensors as for effectors. The unmanned ships could have lower standards - but if they should contribute to the sensor network, they still require good sensors. Certainly for each ship not to level of SPY-6 plus and X-band radar as on high-end ships - but combined it cannot be much worse if it should be be able survive e.g. against the Chinese Navy. I am not sure what kind of radar would be useful for such a network.
The US definition of a frigate as an escort is only one definition. The RN calls ASW ships designed to hunt submarines frigates. There are frigates designed as true multi-purpose ships, which can operate independently (which is not so different from acting independently with an escort of drones - these are only different generations of ships, not different types).
A FREMM could certainly be used a mother ship for drones - it is spacious enough. The smaller Mogami was designed for it. The reason for the Mogami being cheaper is likely the well working, modern Japanese ship building industry (which continuously builds new designs, not old 1980 design ships and which builds also a lot of civilian ships) plus an order for 12 ships.
The aim to build a cheap ship is fine - I do not argue against that. E.g. Singapore's 8000 t Victory class is claimed to cost only $200 million (but I assume without armament). That is a design optimised as drone carriers and they will have an air defence superior to a LCS.
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