Offshore patrol vessels as a practical Pacific presence

Australia and New Zealand need relationships with nearby island states as part of their strategic depth in peace and war. Large frigates and destroyers are poor tools for every routine visit, while larger OPVs can sustain more appropriate contact. The same logic supports British OPVs based from Singapore and raises the maintenance burden of long-term forward deployments. The Montrose model suggests that one forward-deployed frigate requires nearly three rotating crews and the equivalent of another ship in Britain. Credible dry-docking arrangements may also require deeper support relationships with Singapore, Bahrain, or South Africa.