Requirements control depends on someone empowered to say no

Well-intentioned improvements are offered as the most plausible explanation for the expanding requirements, rather than a demonstrated conspiracy. Each small change can improve survivability or add a useful system while also moving the ship further from its agreed configuration. The proposed remedy is a decision-maker empowered to refuse changes or defer them to later flights. The Scrooge metaphor describes that unpopular responsibility, without suggesting that the engineers' ideas lack merit. The Burke comparison illustrates separating studies of future configurations from getting the initial ships into service. The closing critique extends the same argument to destroyer specifications and survivability standards, asking whether all of them were appropriate to the frigate. The diagnosis concerns control of the requirements; the personal motives of those responsible remain uncertain.