The new USN philosophy is if it floats it fights, that's why the LCS is getting anti ship missile, that's why big deck amphibs are tying USMC vehicles to their decks so they can use their weapons while underway. Its why carriers and new amphibs are getting SPY-6, why SM-6 has an anti surface capability, and why ESSM has a last ditch (desperation) anti ballistic missile capability.
Modern systems are highly modular, adaptable and integrated, the only reason not to fit them to pretty much anything large enough to carry them is the price tag of doing so. Look at the capability of the F-35, an individual combat aircraft is a more capable sensor and weapons platform than pretty much any minor warfare vessel and most corvettes, even some frigates. Mount the F-35 type systems (repackaged sensor suit, data links and sensor fusion) on a patrol boat or an FAC and you pretty much instantly have something much more capable than the current norm, looking at the sorts of capabilities modern armoured vehicles are getting these days, even they are outstripping minor warfare vessels.
Not everything is big enough to carry SPY-6 / AMDR or even scalable CEA type set ups, let alone a core AEGIS system, but pretty much everything the size of a patrol boat can mount missiles on their decks and a data link making them part of a task force "magazine". Bigger ships have space and weight for VLS and a decent, if not top end, combat system, its the big ships, the attractive targets, be they combatants, amphibs or support ships, that have the space and weight available for the high end sensors and combat systems, the command facilities, even the accommodation for command staff, that would let the smaller ships with the missiles be useful.
Modern systems are highly modular, adaptable and integrated, the only reason not to fit them to pretty much anything large enough to carry them is the price tag of doing so. Look at the capability of the F-35, an individual combat aircraft is a more capable sensor and weapons platform than pretty much any minor warfare vessel and most corvettes, even some frigates. Mount the F-35 type systems (repackaged sensor suit, data links and sensor fusion) on a patrol boat or an FAC and you pretty much instantly have something much more capable than the current norm, looking at the sorts of capabilities modern armoured vehicles are getting these days, even they are outstripping minor warfare vessels.
Not everything is big enough to carry SPY-6 / AMDR or even scalable CEA type set ups, let alone a core AEGIS system, but pretty much everything the size of a patrol boat can mount missiles on their decks and a data link making them part of a task force "magazine". Bigger ships have space and weight for VLS and a decent, if not top end, combat system, its the big ships, the attractive targets, be they combatants, amphibs or support ships, that have the space and weight available for the high end sensors and combat systems, the command facilities, even the accommodation for command staff, that would let the smaller ships with the missiles be useful.
