Why small-warship requirements keep adding displacement

A modern small-warship debate makes the Dutch design contradiction easier to see. A ship that must defend itself needs weapons and enough magazine depth, while its sensors and combat systems need computing and electrical power. Range and speed require more machinery, fuel, and internal volume. Each demand is reasonable by itself, yet together they produce a larger hull. Political calls for lower cost and smaller ships can therefore conflict with the capabilities those same decision-makers require. In the Dutch debate, such contradictions might have been overlooked, or prolonged argument might have suited opponents who wanted to postpone defence spending altogether.