do you really think Starfleet let it get so bad that 11,000 personnel and 40 starships was crippling? Hundreds of worlds and trillions of citizens. 11,000 is crippling?
in less than 5 years the Federation would lose fleets of hundreds of ships, and while definitely not helpful they had dozens more. The federation really did rest on its laurels for 80 years.
Yes, this was a resounding problem for them that reverberated for several years after. The Federation were certain of their moral and technological superiority that they could not imagine any foe they could not take on readily. And once we became allies, Starfleet became complacent assuming that we, the mighty Klingon Empire would always be there to bail them out of any trouble they might get into. Much like how your NATO countries rely solely on the United States 👀
