May 2, 2019
Floating Failures: 5 Aircraft Carriers That No One Should Ever Fear
Here is our picks.
by David Axe Follow @daxe on Twitter L
Commissioned into French service in 1963, the 33,000-ton, non-nuclear Foch carried 40 fighters and helicopters. Unlike Russian flattops, Foch had a steam catapult, allowing her to boost heavily-laden planes off her deck.
Imposing, flexible, able to sail fast and launch devastating air strikes at long range, aircraft carriers are the ultimate expression of national power. And many of the world’s best-armed countries are acquiring them. China, Russia, India, Brazil, the U.K., France, America.
But just getting your hands on a flattop is hardly enough. For every example of a country that succeeds in deploying a functional carrier and matching air wing, there’s a counter-example: a flattop hobbled by mechanical problems, stricken by age, sidelined by bad design or stuck with warplanes that simply don’t work.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/floating-failures-5-aircraft-carriers-no-one-should-ever-fear-55312
