Go look at the price of Typoon/Sentinel/E3 before you talk about the price of Carriers.
It puts it all into perspective a little.
A carrier is a very long term and infinitely flexible investment. When you consider the cost over 50yrs, they are awesome value for money.
Typhoon/Sentinel/E3 etc are one trick ponys.
A very nice, and possibly indispensible pony yes, but lets be honest, a hawk with sidewinder could have done the job of AD for the UK for the last 10yrs and we would still be safe and well, and the E3 is barely operational anyway.
In 2050, the carriers have every chance of being operationally effective.
Typhoon?
Sentinel?