I remember when Sen. Gary Hart wanted to build much smaller aircraft carriers during the Reagan years.
Then Navy Secretary John Lehman called them, “Gary Hart carriers.”
Setting aside who's asking for it...
Would this be a good idea? Along the line of the "escort carrier" principle in WWII? A workhorse that could provide helicopter and maybe VSTOL support, rather than a fleet-sized carrier?
I dunno, just asking, I'm sure that there are plenty of former navy FReepers that can weigh in. It just strikes me that lately we've been sinking money into smaller numbers of specialized WhizBangs, when what we really need is an abundance of Swiss Army Knives.