Probably already outdated before it is launched.
Submarines render these very vulnerable.
And we can’t afford three of them at $40 billion apiece.
(Consider how many cruise missiles that would buy.)
I dread the day when some dingbat sinks one
with a Russian or Chinese missile — costing us 4000 guys
and billions in hardware.
Right now carriers are what a battleships were on the eve of WWII.
A cool looking targets for any near-peer adversary.
” Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System “
One atmospheric burst will render this unusable.
Submarines will have their torpedos taken out. The USS Bush aircraft carrier already has this: http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=74665
...and it’s just a Nimitz class carrier, not a new Ford class Super-carrier.
The Fords also get laser weapons and active armor.
Indeed. The Russians made that observation in the late 1950s and have been perfecting their anti ship missile tech ever since.
In the olde days I worked on making remotely piloted targets to simulate Russian missiles and had to study the issue in depth. My conclusion the was the carriers were toast if things went south.
Fleet defense capabilities had not gotten better with the retirement of the long distance shield of the F-14. And now other countries have the Russian missile tech.