I’m not sure the need for a VLS is every bit the drawback you believe it to be,

What he said.

Whilst its a pipe dream to hope that VLS is maintenance-free fewer moving parts and (possibly, hopefully) a hermetically sealed unit containing the round should reduce maintenance as compared to a training launcher like on RAM or SeaRAM.

VLS (almost by definition) gives you all rounds ready to fire at once. This was one of original SeaWolf’s downfalls (and what cost it any chance of adoption by USN) the reloading procedures and times simply did not suit a short range anti-saturation attack role.

There is also the issue of arcs of fire. To get 360 degree coverage you are going to need (at least) two launchers. I’m too lazy to look up total weight for either RAM system and double it but I suspect that ship impact for two systems is going to equal to exceed that of a CAAMM farm.