Planning ships for threats that will change

After China, who is the Royal Navy's next peer threat?

Russia is a likely concern, but forces should not be designed only around one forecast because alliances and threats can change during a ship's service life.

Russia is named as a probable concern after China, though crises involving Iran or South America cannot be excluded. Alliances and rivalries can shift repeatedly during a warship's 20- or 30-year service life. The Falklands exposed this problem when British systems designed around Soviet threats faced Western weapons in Argentine service. Force design must therefore cover a range of demanding opponents instead of assuming that today's single forecast will remain valid for decades.