[Retain Mike]

This is the best article I have seen making a case for large versus small aircraft carriers. I must admit it is attractive to me because of his resort to mathematics.

I was a bit surprised he did not mention the space saved by not needing bunkers for Diesel fuel.

[Revel]

The bigger they are then the easier they are to hit. And they can’t even keep one in port from burning to a crisp.

I personally believe that these ships will be the first to go in a major war.

[Little Ray]

If laser point defenses can be perfected, CVNs might survive - they have enough power keep up firing.
But fight now they are huge targets - and single points of failure. Mission kill a carrier and the rest of the task group loses reason for being.

[Bratch]

[microgood]

The one think the US Navy is really good at is situational awareness and during times of combat the carrier will disappear. When they go into flight operations they are completely by themselves.

You can only target a carrier if you know where it is and the US Navy is really good at making them very hard to find. When they head out on a large deployment they all look like they are protecting the carrier, but the days of groups of Navy ships duking it out in large groups like in WWII are over.

[jdsteel]

If you keep in mind the argument that future generation “planes” will most likely be drones smaller makes sense.

[allendale]

The US Navy has a proud tradition and record. Yet its senior officers have been hidebound in tradition. The best example are the “Battleship Admirals” who would not or could not accept the primacy of air power in coming wars. Many brave young American sailors died in WW II when the Navy had inadequate numbers of aircraft carriers in the initial stages of the Pacific war’

Today those battleship Admirals still hold power. They are living in an era of advanced technology. Ship locations can be pinpointed and targeted from space, drones and stealthy aircraft. Ships can be attacked by stealthy missiles, air craft and drones as small as seagulls. The people controlling these largely unmanned lethal weapons will be unseen, far from the battle in a secure bunker. Face it. Editors may be afraid to print the truth but the era of surface combatants is over. Cannot see how an Admiral could send 15-20000 Sailors and 5-10,000 Marines into harms way on surface ships and sleep well. Time for the Navy to make a major reassessment.

[catnipman]

fewer, larger flattops are WAY easier to eliminate than a larger fleet of smaller ones ... i wonder if any “mathematics” were used to analyze that little issue?

[shotgun]

no replacement for displacement...

[MortMan]

I wonder if a nuclear powered “lightning carrier” could serve as a nerve center for Nimitz/Ford class carrier task force anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations, significantly augmenting the fast frigate ships by allowing them temporary use of up to 2 or 3 additional helicopters and/or P-3s.

Throw in a limited but short-turn restockable anti-missile battery, and you might have a real game changer.

The big carriers are force projection. The smaller ones are really mission projection. But the smaller ones might also be imminently usable as force protection platforms, against air-breathing as well as missile threats.

I was a ground pounder (Army), but I’m an engineer, which means I like to think. Any maritime compatriots with thoughts on my suggestion? (I won’t get my feelings hurt if you strongly disagree - I’m just thinking outside the box)

[Terry L Smith]

In WW2, we had a few ‘jeep carriers’, smaller than full-size carriers, but able to perform other missions.

[BereanBrain]

Double Deck the Carriers.

[Vermont Lt]

The Yamato was huge. You should go see it sometime.

Bring a towel.

[freedumb2003]

Can you imagine how big the Donald J. Trump class of aircraft carriers will be?

The will make today’s carriers look like the old “Love Boat” compared to The Oasis Of the Seas.

(folks, this is A JOKE. No need to poke holes in it)

[PIF]

And the puff piece omits that he biggest CVN of all, the Ford, is so screwed up it cannot be fixed in the foreseeable future and has been relegated to a training ship.

Further the Navy is going to build 4 more identical useless CVN targets. These Brass pleasing targets join the now soon to be scrapped LCS ships, the DD-1000 class destroyers which may be made into missile platforms. Oh and the rail gun failure.

If there is on thing the Navy is good at these days is wasting 10s of billions of dollars on ‘concept’ ships.

In any conflict with a peer like China, the CVNs will have to stand off so far that their planes will be useless.

Puff piece

[central_va]

We need a mix of conventional and nuclear CV’s.

[ballplayer]

What is the range of the Fighter and attack aircraft? Is the larger size the need for more tankers to fuel the low fuel capacity of the aircraft necessitates the ship to operate at longer ranges because of the newer anti ship missles

[itsahoot]

Carriers exist for the same reason wheels were put on cannon, all about getting the big gun closer to the enemy.