Seemingly on an impulse buy, Mr. Mehndi has fallen into the Japanese gacha-based trap and bought 4 Keelung-class and 4 Murasame-class ships with no clear reason for purchase. However, we can use them pretty effectively.

Picket-class Destroyer

The Murasame-class are almost obsolete when compared to the many destroyers and frigates newly constructed when it comes to ASW and Anti-air purposes. However, it has one key advantage: it has aegis weapon system, allowing it to provide a carrier group with ABM and anti cruise missile capabilities. These ships will be converted into what is derivatively nicknamed the Picket-class: expendable ships placed at the farthest periphery of a carrier battle group (still within air coverage) to detect and engage enemy ballistic missiles and submarines. Obviously, this could technically be done with the Japanese destroyers coming in 2031, but that's four painful years without Aegis protection and those ships are far too expensive to be expendable anyways. This solution would allow us to have multiple layers of protection at a cheaper cost, preserving our rare carriers at all costs.

Upgraded Specs:

• Modern indigenous BEL HUMSA-NG bow sonar for greatly enhanced submarine detection

• IAI EL/M-2248 MF-STAR S-band AESA multi-function radar

• Better ABM missiles for the VLS when possible

• Visakhapatnam-class destroyer engine for reliability

Ships

Flyswatter-class Destroyer

The Kidd/Keelung-class destroyer was always supposed to have an anti-aircraft/air defense role. This modernization aims to fulfill that and make best use of the 136 SM-2MR Block IIIA Missiles that can be launched with ease from it.

Upgraded Specs:

• Thales LW-08 D-band air search radar

• IAI EL/M-2248 MF-STAR S-band AESA multi-function radar (mostly for upgraded fire control but the rest is nice I guess

• Visakhapatnam-class destroyer engine for reliability

Four ships are due to be upgraded by the end of 2027. These are chiefly aimed at being sold to EAF and giving them the capability to dominate air space in the Red Sea despite RIGS "training exercises".

[m: first roll for Picket, second roll is for Flyswatter]