Small peacetime batches carry a premium because yards must preserve skills, facilities, and wartime surge capacity without enough routine throughput to pay for them. A long sequence of Type 26, Type 31, Type 32, and successor orders would spread fixed costs and make each ship cheaper. Single-source yards sustained almost entirely by government work already resemble Royal Dockyards, except that taxpayers also fund a private profit margin.
Notable Point · 1:17:33-1:21:33
Why steady warship orders lower industrial cost
Continuous warship orders spread yard costs and retain surge capacity while making private single-source yards resemble state dockyards.