Budget systems shape how navies answer a ship race

What happens if prewar Royal Navy admirals seek funds from the US Congress while US Navy admirals use the British system?

US officers would welcome the funding opportunity, while British officers would resist locking requirements in five years ahead of a rapidly changing naval race.

The hypothetical swaps prewar British and American admirals into the other country's funding system. The US Navy would welcome the opportunity to obtain a major funded construction program. Royal Navy officers, by contrast, would object to stating all their needs five years in advance while rival fleets were still changing. Their response would be to ask for current construction and return the next year with updated requirements. Procurement timing becomes part of the arms race because a budget system can preserve adaptability or force planners to guess too far ahead.