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Originally Posted by Kapitain
why dont they insert a plug and put VLS missiles in thier only a few that way you could extend the life of the ship another 20 years and have a more modern feel to it.
or replace the lot entirely
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I believe the whole thinking behind that is any upgrades like that would not be cost effective as I think the longest a OHP is projected to stay around is like 2013 or 2014. The Littoral Combat Ship will fill the role of the OHP and from what I have read it is not armed with AAW missiles such as the SM-2, but with a combination point defense (RAM) and ESSM (Super Whamidine Sea Sparrows).
Putting in a small VLS for say ESSM would be a good short range air defense fix for them. For the size of the launcher cap and the magazine below it you could probably plug in 4 to 6 VLS cells with 4 ESSM in each cell. But, the money is the issue. Money is spent just to keep them going until the end of their projected / extended service life.