Why a steady shipbuilding drumbeat preserves naval capacity

The treaty design is tied directly to industrial policy: Britain and the United States need recurring construction to retain the ability to build major warships. The Type 26 programs in Britain, Canada, and Australia provide a modern analogy for deliberately slow production that keeps yards and skills alive. Stop-start procurement forces a navy to pay repeatedly to rebuild industrial capability whenever it needs a new class. Individual ships can look expensive because each project carries part of the cost of complex infrastructure, research, accumulated experience, and future surge capacity. A larger continuous program spreads those costs across more hulls.