Published warship figures protect sensitive performance data

Why use published warship performance figures when informed observers know they may be incomplete?

Public figures provide a safe, attributable baseline without exposing serving contacts or implying that sensitive specifications came from them.

Published speeds for current warships may not describe their full performance. Figures already available in sources such as Wikipedia provide a defensible public baseline and protect serving personnel or other contacts from accusations that they disclosed restricted information. Open-source naval analysis can still offer context and judgment while declining to confirm sensitive specifications.