Rapid up-arming must be proven before war

A credible up-arming plan has to say where the weapons will come from and where the installation will occur. General claims that a ship is capable of upgrade do not prove that a navy can complete the work under wartime pressure. The Danish StanFlex system comes closest because modules can be held ashore and ships are designed to accept them. An earlier test of adding StanFlex equipment to Absalon provides some practical experience, although the broader conversion promise remains unproven. Some prepared module spaces are understood to be plated over, so using them would require opening the deck and connecting equipment to the provision inside the hull. Even the claim that those arrangements could turn a patrol ship into a warship within days has not been demonstrated here. Continued Danish commitment to StanFlex is uncertain, and additional funding and participation by other countries are proposed as ways to improve its efficiency and effectiveness.