Warships Lack Staying Power

Modern surface warships are relatively fragile: a handful of modern anti-ship missiles (e.g., Exocet, Harpoon) can put most ships out of action, so navies now rely more on avoidance (stealth), distributed formations, and layered missile defenses than on armor and big displacement. This is a continuation of the shift begun when nuclear-era weapons made traditional 'staying power' irrelevant and led to new doctrines like dispersed 'haystack' fleets and submarine-based deterrents. — If correct, this reframes debates over carriers, shipbuilding budgets, allied basing, and force posture — suggesting investment priorities should shift toward detection, long-range strike, distributed systems, and resilience measures.