New aircraft carrier launched

The trouble with quoting for work on this scale is, is the quotations were probably submitted years before the company was awarded the contract, pre-recession prices of raw materials shoot up around the world leaving the quote more or less useless. Also when its taxpayers money funding these types of projects its more or less an open cheque book, the company either folds or is propped up with more funding. The other issue is, most main contractors are just a name and an office, with the majority of the work being sub-contracted out..

Lets be honest, all government projects spiral out of control cost wise, throw in a military angle and any initial costs will be a finger in the air as a lot of the technology is new, or equipment yet to be designed.

With the slashing of defence budgets over the years, I'm amazed they are still building the two carriers. I heard a rumour it was going to cost nearly as much to cancel the contract as it was to build them, maybe that's an urban myth?

But personally I think its a good military asset, more suited to our smaller mobile armed forces, and shows we still have the ability to build and support major complex military systems.

Plus unless you are a die hard republican, the image of the Queen standing in front of the carrier has to be iconic

Plus gives me an excuse to try out the new video code in our editor