Submarine welders and other skilled trades can earn their living in industries beyond naval construction. A yard's wages therefore compete with a wider labor market. The finished warship also combines functions that would be distributed among many facilities ashore, including accommodation, power generation, air defense, aviation support, and command facilities. It must carry those systems to sea and sustain them during a deployment. Comparing its purchase price with a single land weapon misses much of what the ship is expected to contain.
Notable Point · 1:23:01-1:24:34
Skilled labor and the many systems inside a warship
Warship costs combine competition for skilled workers with the machinery and services needed to make a ship a self-contained deployed community.