Boom-and-bust procurement makes successor programs harder

Industrial discontinuity raises the cost of modern Canadian, Australian, British, and European procurement programs. Canada faces a difficult Type 26 program, Australia confronts submarine costs, and Britain has repeatedly allowed shipbuilding and armour capacity to fall between surges. Eurofighter and F-35 provide aerospace examples of the same pattern. Royal Navy contraction had begun by about 1965, perhaps earlier, well before the Cold War ended. When orders collapse to a shadow after one large batch, the successor program must recover skills and facilities before it can efficiently deliver new equipment.