Preventing damage and maintaining the systems needed to survive it

Damage prevention uses doctrine to reduce the chance of a ship being hit and improve its prospects if an attack reaches it. Mitigation means keeping repairs current so the systems needed after a hit still work as intended. Damage control begins when the crew must use those preparations to manage actual damage. Prevention is the cheapest option in this assessment, and mitigation costs less than an emergency response that can end in the loss of the ship. Keeping cumulative operational damage under control gives the crew its best chance when damage control becomes unavoidable.