Silver Patriot said:
Your failing to take into account the research and development of the armor. Not to mention reverse engineering covenant technology. Size is not as much of a factor. It may be bigger but it's the "features" that determine the cost.
Also you do understand that by battle group we are talking about Ships, not people.
Like above but with more ships. A hell of a lot bigger then a Spartan or a Saber.
It took them all the way until the Fall of Reach (2552) to make the Spartans' shields. Infact, only one suit (Mark V) was made with shield tech. Before more were made, Reach was attacked. I guess I can see they would want to put shields on a ship before a spartan, but still the cost is a very big factor. It's like a laptop and a computer, sure they both do basically the same thing, but they are affected by the size, which determines their cost.
And yes, I know we are talking about ships. 1 spartan II is worth an entire battle group (I forget what number determines a battle group, but it is a lot) and full crew for said battle group. So yes, they cost a lot.