After giving the green light to the construction of Daring-class ships, the Admiralty soon came to realize that their combat characteristics would not allow them to counter the new American and Soviet destroyers as equals. During the first half of the 1950s, design work commenced on ships that would be capable of opposing Project 68-bis cruisers owing to their new rapid-firing guns. These ships were also meant to serve as escorts for aircraft carrier groups and convoys, as well as to hunt down enemy submarines. While the project never reached the design drawing stage, the drafts were used as a basis for the project to build County-class guided missile destroyers.