Something interesting happened when the United States began its adventure in military operations over Libya, a super carrier was nowhere near.
Now there are some geo-political advantages that did not require the need of a 100,000 tons of floating airfield 30 miles off the coast. The Italians, we generous in the allowance of their use of NATO bases and airspace; as were that of the Greeks and Maltese. A relatively short jaunt by air, (500-600NM) to the target country. So an hour and half of flight time, ample space for tanker and AWAC’s tracks plus the opportunity for NATO to stretch its legs in its own back yard with little expense.
Libya is not known for its elaborate coastal defenses as countries such as Iran, and its last tangle with carrier based aviators (1989) did not turn out well for the Libyan air force. However, had the Italians, et al, not been as generous, or a different country been on the receiving end of the United States military might, would an aircraft carrier been necessary? If you poke around the internet and blogosphere, there are rumblings as to the usefulness of a super carrier in the new , post 9-11 world.
Yesterday, “Danger Room” ran a post along the same lines. Defense Secretary Gates, and the future of Naval Forces, the Navy itself is having internal conversations as to how to develop the “right” mix for it AirSea, doctrine as discussed in “Information Dissemination”.
From a carrier officer and pilot, the aircraft carrier is a HUGH target. No hiding these things, not that we want to, however our enemies, would like nothing better then to send one of these to the bottom or to the ship yard. Plus they are hugely expense to operate maintain and deliver little the “modern” fight. Most of the “strategic” strike in Libya was completed by the Tomahawk Cruise Missile, the grand daddy of all Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles and large chunk of these missiles were launched from a submarine. With UAV’s now flying over Libya and the ever increasing capabilities of these platforms, coupled with a robust anti-air AEGIS platform, why do we need a Super Carrier?
I suspect with some interesting inventions and investment, a cruiser or Littoral Combat Ship could launch and support a (maybe 3-5) recoverable UAV’s with a 2000 pound payload. So now you could have a fleet of 5-7 ships with a small, customizable “air-force” able to disperse and cover a large area, pack a tremendous punch be relatively inexpensive and not put the kabash on operations when the “airfield” has to go home. After all, 5000 sailors supporting 70 pilots and aircraft is not a good “tooth to tail ratio”.
When was the last time all of the airplanes in a battle group were launched to support an operation and how quickly were the crew able to turn around the aircraft, equipment and crews to sustain such an operation?
