Why DoD Cut A Carrier in 2020 Budget: Survivable Robots & Missiles Vs. China
An inside source explains the logic behind the 2020 budget's most controversial call.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. on March 12, 2019 at 10:59 AM
Shanahan took office telling staff his focus is “China, China, China.†Beijing’s growing arsenal of precision-guided missiles seems increasingly able to find and cripple a thousand-foot-long flattop — unless the US carrier stays out of China’s range, in which case the fighter aircraft it carries can’t reach their targets. (Fighters can be refueled in mid-air, but the tanker aircraft required are big, slow, and vulnerable, so they can’t get close to China, either).
https://breakingdefense.com/2019/03/why-cut-a-carrier-to-fund-survivable-robots-missiles-vs-china/