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There is also a challenge around the fit of the vessel and the decision on how much to invest in it. At present little is known about what the ships will be armed with, and whether a fairly austere ‘fitted for but not with’ approach occurs, or if the RN will invest more heavily in an impressive range of capability for the ships. It is also not clear whether there is additional funding for equipping the ships as a result of the 2019 Spending Review increase to the Defence budget either.
On paper the design offers significant room for investment, providing a wide range of capabilities and options for service. The balancing act though is on deciding how much to invest in the hull and the class as a whole.
For instance, if the RN is serious about the aim to secure export orders and knows that the first batch of hulls is likely to be sold on within a few years of entering service, does it want to invest finite resources in them in providing a full range of missiles, defensive capability and helicopters etc, or does it hold off and keep them relatively austerely fitted, and use them primarily in the patrol role?
The former option helps ensure the ship can remain credible (and sought after) for coalition operations and be able to hold its own when working solo. But, this represents a potentially significant investment of time and money to fit the ship with these capabilities, and to run the costly integration trials needed to be certain it can work effectively. This investment could arguably be lost if the ship is then sold shortly afterwards, and the RN then has to start again by fitting fixtures and weapons into the replacement vessel.
But, if the RN keeps them austerely fitted in order to keep costs down, will they seem too weak and not capable enough to be seen as credible contenders on the export market as direct sales, and will other navies opt for a large OPV or heavily armed export design from another builder instead (for example the F100 series).
Striking a balancing act between investing sufficiently to keep the ships operationally credible for their intended role, while being able to make them credible for export, but at the same time not being too costly is going to be a real challenge for the RN and industry to meet...
https://thinpinstripedline.blogspot.com/2019/09/a-fantastic-future-frigate-thoughts-on.html