Aircraft Carriers Are Complicated And Expensive Things To Build

China’s first carrier, Liaoning, is in drydock while its second--and first home-made carrier--is in the background. VCG

Popular Mechanics: China's Troubled Aircraft Carrier Proves Why It's So Hard To Build Them

Carriers are complicated and expensive things to build.

Recent news out of China suggests that the country is experiencing technical problems with its first homemade aircraft carrier. This points to an ongoing issue for countries that have elected to go the aircraft carrier route: carriers are really, really complicated and expensive things to build.

The first purpose-built aircraft carrier was the Royal Navy’s HMS Hermes. Laid down in 1918 and commissioned in 1926, it was the first carrier built from the ground up as a carrier and not converted from another type of ship for the aviation role. At six years, it had an unusually long development period for a 1920s warship.

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WNU Editor: To say that they are expensive to build is an understatement .... The Price For A Ford Class Supercarrier Is Now $15 Billion (July 27, 2018).