Forgive me if it's been asked/pondered before, but I can't help but wonder what the americans would have charged us for a refitted carrier of theirs, a bunch of new f-18's and a smattering of E2's etc.
The problem seems to be that it's nothing to do with getting military bang for your buck, but everything to do with jobs back home....which is fine until the day that you need military capability, when suddenly paying over the odds for a smaller number of ...... (whatever you care to mention) suddenly isn't much use.