Regional workhorse: Asia-Pacific regional navies make headway on frigate acquisition programmes

摘要

The increasing miniaturisation of naval systems - especially over the past decade - gave rise to predictions that large surface combatants would soon fade into relative obscurity. Navies would increasingly turn towards smaller ships, such as corvettes and offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), that required fewer resources but could accommodate the mission payloads usually associated with their larger counterparts.