Future of Aircraft Carriers and mini-carriers

The aircraft carrier is the largest and most complex of all warships and in most cases the most expensive. In addition to the cost of the ship itself, that of the embarked air wing must be considered, not to mention the extensive logistics and training infrastructure needed to keep carriers operating and useful. A recent Naval Postgraduate School study has shown that approximately 46 percent of the Navy’s personnel—officer, enlisted, and civilian—are assigned to positions either on or supporting its carriers. For these and other reasons, there has been almost constant debate over the past ninety years within navies, between navies and air forces, and within governments over the advisability of investing in carriers.

China’s third aircraft carrier will probably be nuclear — a 100,000-ton warship, equal in size, and perhaps in capability, to the Nimitz and Ford-class nuclear aircraft carriers built by Huntington Ingalls.

The United States operates ten aircraft carriers, plus another nine ships that we would refer to as aircraft carriers if they served in any other navy. It is abject silliness to claim that a 45,000 ton flat-decked aircraft-carrying warship is not, in fact, an aircraft carrier.

In April, 2014, the US had the USS America delivered. It is the first of the America-class amphibious assault ships put into service. Unlike most recent amphibious assault ships, USS America and her sister USS Tripoli lack well-decks, instead focusing on aviation facilities. When fully operational, America and Tripoli will operate as many as 20 F-35Bs, potentially playing a critical role in what the Navy projects as the future of air superiority.

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