Given that the Navy claims it needs more ships, and god knows extended and double-pump deployments bear that out, it might be better served by having 2 less capable ships than 1 more capable ship.
In the same way that the M3 and M4 beat Germany, despite being individually inferior to mid and late war German tanks.
Furthermore, the clusterfuck that is the Constellation-class frigate procurement program proves that the Navy is objectively bad at understanding how shifting requirements interacts with build time and cost.
PS: You're not the only person with family in the Navy.
Given that the Navy claims it needs more ships, and god knows extended and double-pump deployments bear that out, it might be better served by having 2 less capable ships than 1 more capable ship.
In the same way that the M3 and M4 beat Germany, despite being individually inferior to mid and late war German tanks.
Furthermore, the clusterfuck that is the Constellation-class frigate procurement program proves that the Navy is objectively bad at understanding how shifting requirements interacts with build time and cost.
PS: You're not the only person with family in the Navy.