Plans to withdraw, rebuild, and return a patrol ship during war need an identified yard with capacity to perform the work. The case for industrial stress tests rests on doubt that those assumptions have been tested properly. Financial systems have undergone regular stress tests since the 2008 crisis, while World War II mobilization is offered as the nearest practical comparison for testing rapid wartime industrial response. A proposed exercise would call the yards and ask which could accept and quickly convert a ship. The suggested twelve-month reply is a hypothetical warning about the answer such a test could produce. Pushing the conversion through could also displace maintenance and other work needed to keep the current fleet operating.
Notable Point · 46:25-49:07
Wartime conversion plans need industrial stress tests
A navy should test whether yards can convert an OPV during a crisis and what current maintenance would be displaced by the surge.