Interesting take on the Brit "Invincible-class aircraft carrier"

An interesting tidbit I picked up a while back was that CVS was designed to fit surface launch Exocet forward on the starboard side. You can see the rails the canisters fitted onto in the concept drawings. The space was eventually used for Phalanx. pic.twitter.com/Sp0RmfO2ae

— Engaging Strategy (@EngageStrategy1) March 2, 2020

Many of you will already know this but it was a surprise to me.  According to this bubba the Invincible Class was fitted for Exocet anti-ship missiles.  Why is this interesting to me?  Because the Navy/Marine Corps are attempting to make Amphibious Ships more "lethal".  Seems at one time the Brits were on that same trail.  Come to think of it the original "Tarawa" class mounted 5in guns which would have provided defense against small boat attacks that were all the rage in naval circles just a few years ago.

Since the Marine Corps appears to be heading back to the Coastal Defense Battalion concept of WW2, I have to wonder if we might see some of the close in air defense systems replaced with anti-ship missiles or rather augmented with them in the near future.

My problem with that possibility?

We're giving up combat power ashore (weight has to be made up somewhere and the more stuff dedicated to the sea battle the less you have for the fight ashore).

Will the Marine Corps devolve to a point where even a hybrid terror group has equal or greater combat power on land than the future Ground Combat Element?

Are they focusing so much on the sea battle that we start losing the land fight?

Berger really needs to get out of his foxhole and start laying out his ideas.