Type 45 underarmament tests Speed's procurement rule

Speed's 1980 argument also provides a test for the Type 45 Daring-class destroyer: a capable and expensive platform loses value when its weapons fit cannot complete the assigned task. Speaking in 2021, the comparison points to Harpoon and the absence of Mark 41 vertical-launch cells as examples of capability left outside the hull. Close-in weapon provision had also worried critics of the 1980s frigate and destroyer force. The ships differ, but procurement can repeat the same separation between sophisticated platforms and insufficiently mature or installed weapons. The result is a direct link from Cold War anti-submarine procurement to a modern debate about underarming naval platforms.