IF Canadians had the political will, the Canadian military could build a very potent defence force at sea (RCN), in the air (RCAF) and on the ground. Unfortunately, like the US and UK, we suffer from very loud and obnoxious socialists shouting for government sponsored abortion, child care, social services, transgender operations, etc., all while the vast majority of the more conservative folks stand back and say nothing. Since the 1960s, with mostly Lieberals in power, our armed forces have deteriorated as we’ be depended on the ‘giant to the South’ for defence.
Lefties don’t like increasing military spending and in fact, currently wish to review our role in Mid-East wars. As an election is coming this fall, PM Harper can’t raise such an issue without the press (like the US, a bunch of socialists) viciously attacking the Conservatives. As they have governed since February 2006, they have to be VERY careful not to upset the press before the vote.
As an aside, it would seem to me that a large fleet of relatively inexpensive ‘Sea Control Ships’ versus a much smaller fleet of behemoth ‘supercarriers’ would make more sense, especially in light of what is bound to happen in the Persian Gulf after the Dhimmis lose the next election. While obviously WWII and current sea wars are very different, the Pacific War was won using a large fleet of less expensive, smaller carriers in groups. To me, that makes sense. Losing one SCS out of three carriers in a battle group versus losing the one super carrier in the battle group still allows the battle to continue, if the brass deem it so. Just my non-naval opinion.
The problems with SCS are that they can’t carry big enough aircraft, and can’t maintain combat ops for long enough to be effective.
They’re basically an evolution of the old CVE, good for anti-sub and supporting amphibious ops.
In WWII the US carried the war to Japan with the then-big Essex Class Carriers. Which by the end of the war had airgroups of slightly over 100 aircraft. The Independence-class Light Carriers, converted from light cruiser hulls, weren’t considered to be all that effective. They were supposed to carry 45 aircraft, but were cramped enough that they usually only carried in the mid 30s.