Future Naval Air contribution to "small wars"
The CV is once again obsolete, "long live the CV!".
Or should it?
Aircraft were going to make surface ships obsolete, or so Billy Mitchell argued. Tac nukes made fleets obsolete in the late 60s and early 70s. Backfire bombers and conventional cruise missiles killed them off again in the late 70s early 80s. In the late 80s, and 90s wake homing torpedoes did them in. Now its antiship ballistic missiles.
We have been through multiple periods when ships, CVs in particular were "sitting ducks" - yet we have dropped a whole lot of warheads on foreheads with a perrenially obsolete platform.
Gazing into your crystal balls, is this "it" and finally the stake is about to be put into the heart of supercarriers? To surface ships in general? Is the risk to them to great for the role they have played delievering ordnance from 5 acres of soverign US territory placed where we want it?
If we slashed our CV force, would that significantly affect our success in future small wars? Would any of you pointy end of the spear types know they were gone? Can we provide striking power in support of land operations with missiles from small ships and intercontinental land-based air?
Twilight of the $UPERfluous Carrier...
CVNs for Small Wars be realistic
The UK is effectively giving up aircraft carriers (although we will have a carrier without aircraft:eek:).
My response is that in future 'Small Wars' the USA may undertake a mission which is far from the sea, e.g. like Darfur, does not warrant a CVN's commitment e.g. like El Salvador and does not require that level of coercive capability, e.g. chasing the LRA.
The CVN provides IMHO for Small Wars an expeditionary / intervention capability and surely the USA after recent experiences will want to avoid such high-level commitments? It may affect the USN's budget and other factors not being able to deploy its gold standard coercive option - live with it and adapt. Yes, that may mean fewer CVNs.