The Influence of History

SM-2 missiles being loaded aboard the Danish frigate Niels Juel for the first time - note the second missile cannister in the foreground In the days of battleships, understanding the firepower of a warship was simple - all you needed to do was count up the size and number of guns it was armed with, and you had a decent idea of what it was capable of contributing to a battle. These days, things are more complicated. Especially with the development of the universal VLS that can handle a variety of different missiles. All too often, modern warships are capable of carrying missiles that they have never actually been equipped with, leading casual observers to profoundly misunderstand the ships' combat capabilities. A recent, and particularly egregious, example of this phenomenon concerns the Danish Iver Huitfeldt-class fregatter (frigates). A quick check of the ships' Wikipedia page will reveal that they are supposedly armed with: Armament of the Iver Huitfeldt-class (according to ...