How steady annual orders lower warship costs

Would ordering a destroyer, two frigates and four OPVs every year substantially reduce unit costs?

Yes. Continuous production avoids repeatedly expanding and contracting the shipbuilding system.

A continuous annual order would give the shipbuilding system a steady workload. The cost problem includes repeatedly rebuilding manufacturing capacity as well as research and development. Skills and facilities otherwise expand for a class and decline before the next order. Industry also needs confidence that an announced program will continue. Alex uses French parliamentary commitments as an example of advance warning and a process for changing procurement, rather than assuming that governments never revise plans.