Constellation's off-the-shelf value problem

Constellation began with an off-the-shelf frigate design and an intention to make minimal modifications. The cancelled program was described as offering roughly 60 percent of an Arleigh Burke destroyer's capability at 80 percent of its cost, a comparison that raises the question of buying another destroyer instead. These percentages are a reported assessment, without a capability-measurement method supplied here. The explanation considered combines NAVSEA's pursuit of technical improvements, political concern about losing ships, and acquisition criteria that add requirements. The long gap since the Oliver Hazard Perry class also left the Navy without recent experience of building a conventional frigate. The discussion therefore treats institutional habits and lost design practice as possible contributors alongside the choice of hull.