The purpose of a conventional fleet is to manage costs. If you try to make them like the supercarriers, you end up with a Kennedy. Most of the costs, none of the benefits.
Same reason that the conventional subs need to be small coastal defense models. If you want something that looks like a Virginia or an Ohio, go ahead and drop a reactor in it. If you want something that looks like a Bush or a Nimitz, go ahead and drop in a reactor.
Exactly! the USN doesn’t really need a high-end German Type-212 or Japanese Soryu. A Type-209 vanilla diesel-electric will do!