Seabasing Counters Area Denial | AVIATION WEEK
Great article but what I'm still waiting for is an explanation of how you develop an LHA and not have it part of the Amphibious Fleet. This is another promising concept that will probably be under intense pressure with the current budget problems.
Sol,
ReplyDeleteI think that a key to the LHA sans well deck can be seen in the recent deployment of USMC AV-8Bs aboard the HMS Ark Royal. It is only a partial answer (and a poor choice), but it could explain the thinking (and why they're going back to well decks).
They seem to be specifically testing air ops using the ski jump...but even that doesn't require the massive sacrifices that were made. I think that they might consider retrofitting a ski ramp to boost AV-8B & F-35B range aviation missions. A good idea, but just enough to recover some utility for the LHA-6...some.