Carriers: Not Dead Yet, And Unquestionably Not Unloved
By Commander Salamader
May 14, 2026
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...the best we can do, really...
Ethan Gossrow over at Naval News did a detailed look at the carrier portion of the 30-year shipbuilding plan that gives some texture for those who, like myself, are concerned about the slow approach to bringing new carriers online.
Even though today is no different from any other day over the last half decade, there are those who will continue to try to explain why the USN’s CVNs are “obsolete” and not worth the investment. However, reality continues to get in their way, as he quotes from the Plan:
“Underpinning Expanded Maritime Maneuver (EMM) the CVN serves as a persistent, survivable, mobile sea base that enables the Navy to dominate contested environments and deliver decisive effects at ranges that outpace adversary anti- access/area-denial (A2/AD) envelopes without the need for Access, Basing, and Overflight.”
There is no other way to project national will anywhere on the planet like a CVN. There just isn’t.
Even though we are an 11-carrier navy in a 15-carrier world…we’re not growing.
https://armedforces.press/navy/2026/05/14/carriers-not-dead-yet-and-unquestionably-not-unloved/
