America's crazy flying aircraft carriers could have actually worked
Sandboxx
Alex Hollings
October 20, 2020 14:35:01 EST
As the United States shifts its posture away from ongoing counter-terror operations and back toward great power competition with nations like China, the U.S. is being forced to reassess it's aircraft carrier force projection strategy. If U.S. carriers find themselves on the sideline for such a conflict, it may be worth revisiting the idea of a different kind of aircraft carrier: the flying kind.
China's arsenal of hypersonic anti-ship missiles have created an area denial bubble that would prevent American carriers from sailing close enough to Chinese shores to launch sorties, effectively neutering America's ability to conduct offensive operations against the Chinese mainland. Without the ability to leverage the U.S. Navy's attack aircraft, combat operations in the Pacific would be extremely difficult. It is, however, possible (though potentially impractical) to develop and deploy flying aircraft carriers for such a conflict–the United States has even experimented with the concept a number of times in the past, and is continuing to pursue the idea today.
https://www.wearethemighty.com/gear-tech/flying-aircraft-carriers-couldve-worked?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1
