Why a smaller navy benefits from general-purpose escorts

Is a specialized navy better than one built around more evenly capable general-purpose ships?

Specialization suits a very large budget, but a smaller navy gains availability and flexibility from larger classes of general-purpose escorts with different mission emphases.

A very large navy can afford specialized classes because its budget and fleet size absorb the readiness cost of narrow roles. A smaller fleet built in four-hull specialist groups may have only one ship from each group available, leaving too little usable mass for operations. Twelve broadly common escorts that can perform most missions are more likely to generate several deployable ships and simplify force formation. The proposed Royal Navy structure adds three landing helicopter docks and six escort groups, each mixing air-oriented and anti-submarine-warfare-oriented general-purpose vessels rather than wholly single-purpose types.