Count the enablers that headline force totals hide

Defence reviews should compare threats, accepted risk, and the capabilities required to meet them. Public debate instead tends to count tanks, escorts, and fighters while overlooking transporters, supply ships, tankers, and other enablers. That bias makes apparently easy cuts to Albion, Bulwark, and support fleets strategically expensive. Brigade-scale amphibious lift does not require deploying a full brigade every time; it also provides the capacity to distribute reinforced commandos or self-contained battle groups across several tasks. The distinction between visible inventory and usable force changes which apparent savings are genuinely affordable.