Modern naval weapons cost billions and thus only wealthy nations can field them

Evidence

The cost of state-of-the-art weapons is still staggering today, and only the richest can afford the best. More than one thousand feet long and displacing one hundred thousand tons of water, Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are home to ninety fighter jets, batteries of antiaircraft missiles, and more than six thousand crew members. A ship this size costs 4.5 billion to build, not counting the aircraft. Modern fighters such as the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet cost 67 million apiece, bringing the total ship cost closer to 10.5 billion. Add the price of training and paying six thousand military personnel, and the cost climbs still higher. On top of this, each carrier by itself is vulnerable to attack, so they never travel alone. Carrier strike groups consist of a carrier plus a miniarmada of support craft, generally two guided-missile cruisers, between two and four antisubmarine and antiaircraft destroyers, and, often, a submarine. The purchase cost for a carrier strike group exceeds 20 billion, and one recent study estimated operating costs of maintaining a strike group at $6.5 million per day. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 396

Categorization

• XREF: Mirrors the handicap-principle cost constraint in animal weapons — only the fittest can afford exaggerated traits. — connects to: Physical constraints capped ancient galley size like they limit animal weapons — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 262; Only a minority of males can afford to build full-size weapons — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 326; Cheap weapons can disable the most expensive military technologies — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 417 (+11 more)

Related

• Only very rich countries can afford the huge losses of modern imperialism (similarity 0.91)
• Cold War weapons costs multiplied simultaneously across every system category (similarity 0.86)
• Weapon costs follow the same handicap economics in nations as in individuals (similarity 0.84)
• The most expensive weapons serve as deterrents by projecting power globally. (similarity 0.83)
• Cheap weapons can disable the most expensive military technologies (similarity 0.82)
• Costly advanced weapons deter rivals just like large animal weapons (similarity 0.80)
• Only a minority of males can afford to build full-size weapons (similarity 0.80)
• Cheap weapons of mass destruction will erode expensive conventional forces (similarity 0.80)
• Some elaborate animal weapons are astonishingly cheap to produce and carry (similarity 0.79)
• Warship-building cost restrictions turned fleet size into deterrent signals. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Cheap weapons can disable the most expensive military technologies #contradicts (0.80) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 417
• Cheap asymmetric weapons can topple vastly more expensive military investments. #contradicts (0.80) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 441
• Cheap weapons of mass destruction will erode expensive conventional forces #contradicts (0.70)
• Weapon costs follow the same handicap economics in nations as in individuals #expands (0.60) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 924
• Costly advanced weapons deter rivals just like large animal weapons #corroborates (0.60) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 592
• Expensive war-fleet dominance deterred conflict and produced relative peace #corroborates (0.60) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 395
• Ancient siege warfare succeeded only for the richest armies due to enormous logistical costs. #corroborates (0.60) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 486
• The most expensive weapons serve as deterrents by projecting power globally. #expands (0.50) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 967
• Bigger weapons usually fail because their costs outweigh their benefits #complicates (0.50)
• Precision weaponry expands rather than confines the battlefield to the whole world. #expands (0.50)
• Cold War weapons costs multiplied simultaneously across every system category #corroborates (0.50) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 573