Construction tempo is itself a strategic and procurement choice. Governments may pay a yard to build slowly because closing the facility is politically and industrially damaging, yet they do not want additional ships entering service. The estimate presented for the Queen Elizabeth-class carrier programme puts the cost of delay and design-policy changes near the price of another hull. Those extra payments then leave less defence money available for further ships. Preserving shipbuilding capacity by stretching a tiny order can therefore reinforce the same fleet scarcity that made each hull so important.
Chapter · 59:00-1:00:51
Slow construction can cost extra hulls
Paying yards to stretch a programme can preserve industrial activity while consuming money that might otherwise have bought more ships.