... which would be substantial, to say the least. An operational carrier houses over 5,000 sailors, airmen, and marines. Sinking a carrier is akin to completel

... which would be substantial, to say the least. An operational carrier houses over 5,000 sailors, airmen, and marines. Sinking a carrier is akin to completely obliterating a small city in terms of loss of life. In terms of economic cost, it's even greater - a carrier costs around $5b just to launch. Add in the costs of fuelling, salaries and training for the crew, armament, the aircraft aboard... the other dozen or so ships in the strike group... I don't think it's unwarranted to assume that the total economic cost to build and deploy a US carrier strike group exceeds the budget of most countries' navies.