Why the Royal Navy favors frigates over small coastal corvettes

Should the Royal Navy buy small general-purpose corvettes for coastal defense and protection of undersea cables?

Not in that form; British operating areas and equipment loads favor larger light frigates such as Type 31 and Type 32.

Type 31 and the proposed Type 32 are offered as better fits than a dozen Saar 6-sized corvettes. Ships operating in the North Sea, North Atlantic, and around the Falklands need enough displacement and stability for delicate sensors, weapons, and aviation systems. Even nominally uncrewed ships may grow large enough that a small protected crew becomes more sensible than complete autonomy. Once round-the-clock watchkeeping, command, cooking, medical support, maintainers, and drone operators are counted, the notional complement rises toward roughly 30 to 40 rather than three. One possible design would concentrate that crew in a protected control space able to separate as a survival craft, showing how seakeeping and human resilience can reshape an apparently uncrewed concept.