Aircraft Carrier Update

Carrier Wars

 

Navy photo / MCS 2nd Class Kilho Park

The USS Harry S Truman steams the Arabian Sea as sailors on the flight deck prepare for the morning flight operations cycle.

U.S. aircraft carriers are a big roll of the dice. The U.S. Navy has begun building the Ford class of carriers, which are going to end up costing $15 billion each once they’re outfitted with the warplanes that are the reason for their existence.
They promote the U.S. presence in a most awe-inspiring way. To see a carrier looming out on the horizon is to feel insignificant. Especially if you’re an enemy warship.
But the World War II battles of carriers and battleships are, literally, history. Future foes will choose to come after these 100,000-ton behemoths with much cheaper torpedoes or missiles. The U.S. Navy bets they won’t succeed. Others aren’t so sure.
The debate resumes with a pair of essays looking at the merit of continuing to rely so heavily on carriers.

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