Arsenal Ship/Missile Barge. Mike at New Wars view.

early arsenal ship concept.

early arsenal ship concept.

Mike at New Wars had this issue pegged a long time ago.  I really recommend you go back and read his take on the arsenal ship (heck you should read his blog even though he doesn't update it anymore, it covers issues that we're still banging around).  Bear in mind that when he wrote it, the issue was land attack only and the main threat that the arsenal ship represented was to carrier aviation being able to attack targets deep inland with greater precision and less risk than manned aircraft.

If we're being honest about it, the UAV is just another take on the arsenal ship, the only difference being that its being deployed from a carrier instead of a 'surface' ship.

But that's not the point.  Read his article but here's the juicy bit....

Besides an immense missile-firing platform, other unique extras in the design included:

• Very small crew-Only 50 were deemed necessary to operate the 500-800 foot craft. Compare this to 300 on much smaller destroyer, or 6000 needed to crew a Nimitz class aircraft carrier.
• Low cost-The initial version cost about $450 million, or about the price of the tiny new littoral combat ship. The huge weapons payload would have added to the cost, but still come in far less than the $6-$8 billion price tag of a heavy carrier.
• Water armor-Plans were for the ship to have ballast tanks similar to a submarine, which could be filled to provide a low profile in enemy waters. An added benefit to this, as proved in the Tanker War of the 1980's, is that such a vessel providing its own buoyancy would be extremely difficult to sink.
• A Digitized Warship-She could have been operated by remote control, with her weapons systems tied into to other Aegis Ships or AWACS aircraft, and aimed accordingly. She would have been an integral part of the US Ballistic Missile Defense program.

Guess what boys and girls.  That sounds like a mix between an LCS (small crew...but unlike the LCS, the VLS tubes don't need to be maintained so it would have been possible), and a DDG-1000 (digitized and networked...just like the arsenal ship was suppose to be). 

But even better is what a kid came up with.  I don't even know if he realizes how brilliant his idea is.  He goes by the name "Infinite Hunter" and he has some 3D models up on Google.  What he bashed together was a fictional ship.  An arsenal ship or missile barge --- he named it a Missile Support Barge (MSB-1) and based it on a container ship!  If this idea was followed, you'd have LOW platform cost, a double hull to help protect it against enemy action (and that doesn't include the armor that the launch cells have!), a small crew and room for any other option you decided to add to the ship!  I like it.

NOTE:
My buddy Joe likes to point to the Ohio class cruise missile subs as being able to fulfill this role.  The problem is that most of the subs missions are classified and have an intel angle to them.  Additionally when called upon they might not be in positon to providethe needed support without risking the boat.  We need responsive fires.  Thats why I like this concept.