[Oztrich Boy]

I know a professor who is an expert on China and the military. He says that the US building an Air Craft Carrier is just about as complex as sending a man to the moon.

He said last Spring that the US is the only nation that has figured it out.

Figured out what? "Copy the British"

[garjog]

“Figured out what? “Copy the British””

OK, what is great about Freepers is if you make a mistake, you are corrected quickly by guys who know what they are talking about.

I will go back and ask my buddy about what he meant. He really is an expert (wrote two books on Asia by major publishers) and just turned down a job as an adviser to the Navy about China. http://www.amazon.com/Rise-China-International-Security-America/dp/041555876X/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260815817&sr=1-7

[buccaneer81]

Figured out what? "Copy the British"

The Brits peaked withe their Carrier technology in the 1950s. Now they operate one glorified helicopter carrier that can launch sub-sonic fighters with a ramp. As Archie Bunker used to say, "Whoop dee do."

[Fred Hayek]

The British developed not just the concept of the carrier, but also the catapult, the angled deck, among others.
The British however decided to go with the welfare state post WW2, thus resulting in the ongoing gutting of their navy and air force, which really started with the 1957 Defence White Paper. The debt incurred from WW2 did not help as well, since Britain was economically in bad shape after the war.
The US carriers of WW2 vintage (Essex class, Midway class) were better candidates for angled deck conversion since their hangar deck were not armoured boxes. Thus more deck edge lifts, higher plane capacity. The British did have their own design for a supercarrier with the CVA-01, however they could not afford it, no thanks to the burgeoning welfare state. And now they are reaping from that welfare state.