Fleet construction begins with strategic questions rather than a shopping list of ships. A government must establish why it needs a navy, what it wants the force to do, whether it can build and support it, and how other powers may react. Those reactions can reshape the acquiring state's plans, so naval procurement becomes an interactive strategic problem. Each answer creates further choices about the size, character, and affordability of the eventual force.
Chapter · 2:18-3:25
Start with the questions a navy must answer
A navy begins with its purpose, the capacity to build and sustain it, and the reactions its acquisition will provoke.