The procurement context matters as much as each ship's specifications. Pairs and trios create a nominal capability suited to joining coalition operations against lesser opponents. They do not supply the numbers, maintenance depth, or loss tolerance required for prolonged peer conflict. Strategic change therefore forces Australia to revisit decisions that were reasonable under an earlier assumption of discretionary wars.
Notable Point · 1:56:20-1:57:03
Why classes of two and three imply wars of choice
Australia's small Hobart and Canberra classes were sized to contribute to allied interventions, not to absorb losses and sustain a peer war.