Seawolf, Astute, and Virginia represent different bargains

Clarke puts Seawolf probably first for overall capability and rates Astute particularly highly as a hunter-killer. He describes Virginia as an excellent general-purpose boat shaped by a lower price point and the need for a larger fleet. In his explanation, the United States could not obtain enough Seawolf-level boats for its budget, whereas Britain expected a small force and prioritized hunting capability in Astute. These are his comparative judgments, without a technical trial or published performance comparison in the exchange. A later reply challenges the idea that British industry could not build more by arguing that production facilities have not been fully used.