I think these are very legitimate concerns. In fact, the cost of acquisition and development is not considered likely to exceed $84 billion. So there may be some tough decisions to be made. There could be painful trade-offs over the acquisition of major pieces of equipment such as fighter jets, the cost of which hasn't yet been determined, and other types of equipment such as tanks, which will have to be purchased or replaced in the coming years.
We also know, given what we know about the current budget of the Department of National Defence and the combatants, that maintenance and operating costs are likely to consume well over half of the budget. It is likely to be three quarters of the Royal Canadian Navy's budget, if not more.
If the 15 combatants alone consume a very large portion of the Royal Navy's operating budget, there won't be much left for other ships and other types of defence operations.
So I think Mr. Williams has raised some very legitimate concerns.