it's not just the size, kirov class considered as carrier group assassin. just look at the armament, the aircrafts they accommodate... these ships are compact packages for what a navy should have and look alike. so the number might be around 4-6 but still it would be effectively make the PG and AS our domain of power that even USA can't threaten us.
i am agree with u that we should keep the number in our favor (a large small fleet of speed boats), but i am not in favor of modje class frigates. the amount of money invested in them to my opinion turned to smoke as they are extremely under equipped. however there is no magical way to jump to a +10000 tons ship without mastering basics.
i just hope the 6000 tons negin and safineh class enter service and get mass produced. and the kamand and domestic VLS get integrated to older generation ships for now. but ultimately if we really want to keep defensive and friendly gesture, the best solution (of course in my opinion) is combination of very large battleships and small fast attack crafts.
