How can navies address warship growth without further fleet cuts?

How do we solve this problem sensibly?

Technology can help, but its benefits risk becoming another justification for fleet cuts. Navies still need numbers and mass, and diplomacy still needs human contact.

More technology is offered as a possible part of the solution, with the concern that governments will use each improvement to justify another reduction in fleet numbers. That would worsen the same problem the new systems were meant to solve. The provisional answer therefore retains a need for numbers and mass alongside technical capability. Uncrewed assets also have limits in diplomacy, which continues to require personal contact.