The quoted budget estimates put follow-on frigates at roughly $1.2-$1.3 billion each while the design remained unfinished. The lead ship's estimate was about $1.5 billion, partly because it carried detailed-design and other non-recurring engineering costs. Early production also has to establish manufacturing equipment such as jigs and work through the learning curve. Later ships can benefit from that work, while inflation across a long programme can push costs in the other direction. The objection concerns the certainty attached to unit figures and plans for a second builder before design and production assumptions were settled.
Notable Point · 2:17:22-2:19:38
Unit-cost precision arrived before design maturity
Budget documents assigned detailed unit costs and discussed a second builder while the lead ship's design remained unfinished.