The NFR-90 plan assumed Britain would build twelve ships during the 1990s immediately after the Type 23s, then order another frigate batch around 2000. That continuing programme was expected to sustain a force of about 36 escorts. Ships arriving in twos or threes could combine their magazines, while a carrier task group with five or six escorts would carry many more missiles than one ship's 48-cell figure suggests. Continuous production also promised newer hulls and the facilities needed to keep them reliably available. Reducing ship numbers undermined the deployment and maintenance assumptions behind the original armament.
Chapter · 36:24-38:10
A 36-escort fleet made 48 cells look less risky
An expected force of about 36 escorts made 48-cell magazines workable through multi-ship deployments, continuous construction, and regular replacement.