The six Type 45 destroyers carry cancellation and research costs that make their apparent unit price misleading. Continuing production could have reduced the marginal cost of later ships and spread fixed programme expenses across a larger fleet. A twelve-ship force would require more crews, but could keep some hulls in deep maintenance while still providing nine for routine availability and surge. More ships could also reduce disruptive maintenance deferrals, which tend to create additional faults and higher long-term costs.
Notable Point · 57:24-59:23
Type 45 fleet size changes unit cost and readiness
Cancellation charges, fixed research costs, production scale, crewing, and maintenance cycles all shaped the Type 45 programme.