The peacetime cost of preserving wartime capacity

Private firms cannot economically maintain wartime-scale shell plants or shipyards during peacetime without compensation. Historically, government ownership made that readiness cost visible because the state directly carried facilities and salaries. Britain instead pays yards through a procurement premium that keeps plant, skilled workers, and surge capacity available while ships are built at a slower peacetime rate. This readiness burden is estimated at roughly a quarter of British warship prices over the preceding forty years. Privatization can move a defence cost off the government payroll without making it disappear.