What continuous escort production buys a navy

Which older escort designs could still provide an affordable basis for a modern fleet?

Mature light-frigate designs such as Type 23 and Oliver Hazard Perry could have remained useful through continuous production, selective modernization, and added missile capacity.

Type 23 and Oliver Hazard Perry frigates illustrate how repeated construction can make a useful light escort progressively cheaper. Their limited vertical-launch capacity would need attention in an evolved design, but stretching a mature hull could provide more cells without duplicating its sensors, computers, or accommodation. One proposed Type 23 development could have made room for a 96-cell installation by adding a hull section and rearranging the ship. Such an expansion would require some additional power, but much of the supporting equipment and personnel would already be present. Continued orders would preserve production experience while allowing selective modernization. A larger fleet would also spread wear across more ships and leave enough vessels available to conduct refits when required.