Why the US Navy needs many Constellation-class frigates

How would you design the Constellation-class frigate, and how many should the US Navy build?

Keep the basic design and build continuously at scale; the Navy's urgent shortfall is frigate numbers rather than a need to reinvent the ship.

The answer sees little reason for a wholesale redesign because the ship broadly fits American needs. The larger problem is numbers: the US Navy lacks enough frigates for escort and presence work and should maintain production rather than treating the class as a boutique program. Fleet utility comes from having enough hulls to distribute routine missions and relieve more expensive destroyers.