People still discount the carrier’s strike power. The F/A-18E/F can fly hundreds of miles from the carrier and launch missiles with ranges from 90+ miles to take out ships.
That said, our carrier air wings are not what they were just 25 years ago. The number of aircraft is down from that 90-aircraft figure to closer to 70. In air-to-air combat, the US Navy no longer can claim the type of dominance it had when it had F-14D Super Tomcats on board. The Super Hornet does not compare favorably to the Super Tomcat in most measures of performance, especially combat radius. The latest Sukhois are a match for the performance of the Super Hornet and the USN only enjoys superiority due to the quality of naval aviators.
This is unfair to those naval aviators and could put them in the same position as their predecessors who had to fly against the Japanese Zero in the F4F Wildcat at the outset of WWII...
Why did we retire the Super Tomcats again? That seems a little...stupid to say the least.
Furthermore, what’s up with reducing the number of aircraft in the Air Wings? Is it just a matter or replacing the Tomcat Squadrons or is there something else going on?