The Canadian Surface Combatant is a fleet-level answer rather than a contest for the cheapest individual frigate. A larger homogeneous fleet gives Canada more ships of the same type through maintenance cycles and lowers the support burden. The rough example contrasts two six-ship classes generating about four available hulls with one twelve-ship class potentially generating six. That logic explains why Canada wants one design to cover several missions, even where another ship might outperform it in one narrow role.
Notable Point · 51:00-53:49
Why Canada favours one large surface-combatant class
For a smaller navy, a sizeable single class can simplify training, maintenance, infrastructure, and force generation more effectively than several specialized small classes.