Too big to sail? US aircraft carriers could go the way of the dinosaur

[rangerrebew]

Too big to sail? US aircraft carriers could go the way of the dinosaur
by Jamie McIntyre
 | December 04, 2018 12:00 AM
 
The Navy’s plan is to go from building one new carrier every five years, to one new carrier every three years until a fleet of 12 can be sustained by 2030.
 

President Trump is worried that the newest class of American supercarriers may have a fatally flawed system for launching aircraft, and has ruminated publicly about why the new electromagnetic catapults have replaced the old-fashioned steam version.

But deep thinkers believe the most tangible symbol of America’s military dominance could face a much bigger problem: U.S. aircraft carriers may soon be rendered obsolete by short-sighted decisions and new long-range weapons.

No other nation in the world has more than two modern aircraft carriers. The United States has 11, and is proceeding at flank speed on an ambitious multibillion-dollar program to gradually replace its Cold War-era Nimitz class carriers, with the new Gerald R. Ford.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/too-big-to-sail-us-aircraft-carriers-could-go-the-way-of-the-dinosaur

[rangerrebew]

I am rather partial to carriers since I spent about 3 years on one but they are largely meaningless in today's weapons environment unless they are used against a country like the Maldives that has limited firepower.