Modern OPV design can assume that intelligence will always keep a patrol ship below its intended threat level and that wartime upgrades will arrive in time. Both assumptions are unsafe because crises do not follow the plan. Some margin in weapons, sensors, and structure gives the crew options when danger rises unexpectedly. Too much combat capability, however, makes the ship unaffordable and competes with frigates and destroyers that carry deeper magazines and greater survivability. Too little leaves patrol hulls tied up in harbor whenever no peaceful operating area remains. Simple ships are cheaper to buy and often more available because they have fewer systems to maintain, so the force-structure answer is a deliberate balance rather than maximum armament.
Notable Point · 56:31-59:36
OPV design needs an affordable margin for danger
Designers must balance enough wartime resilience to avoid useless ships against the cost, crew, and maintenance burden that would reduce patrol numbers.