Today's patrol fleet differs from historical auxiliaries that could be mobilized for combat. Sloops, trawlers, and similar hulls could receive wartime armament because usable weapons were already waiting in warehouses. Most modern navies do not maintain comparable reserves of current weapon systems. A plan to up-arm an OPV therefore has to identify the actual missiles, guns, sensors, and integration equipment before war begins. Without those stockpiles, rapid conversion depends on finding modern weapons and the capacity to install them after a crisis has begun.
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Historical auxiliary warships depended on weapon stockpiles
Modern OPVs lack the wartime weapon stockpiles that once let navies arm sloops and trawlers for combat.