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If want cheap warships, then putting containerized missiles on cargo ship might be the cheapest option. The standard VLS cells should fit in standard container.
by ianburrell 3y ago
If want cheap warships, then putting containerized missiles on cargo ship might be the cheapest option. The standard VLS cells should fit in standard container.
It should be possible to create data link to other ships, and use the cargo ship as magazine. It would be much harder to make a containerized warship with radar, combat system, and all that. The cargo ships would be super vulnerable without any defenses, and be destroyed by any hit.
The other problem is that the stocks of missiles are small. The US should probably focus on making more, cheaper missiles than building ships.
- nradov 3y agoThere have been a number of proposals along those lines to install containerized missiles on cargo ships. It's technically possible, but cargo ships are so slow and vulnerable that they would only be useful to supplement the magazines of surface warships conducting convoy escort missions. That's a pretty niche mission now and it would be difficult to justify the expense.