Hat tip to ELP...I'm starting to like this
Dr. Goure!
There is no more strategically agile, operationally
responsive and tactically flexible platform in the U.S. arsenal than the
aircraft carrier. Properly supported as part of a carrier strike group
(CSG) and sustained by the world’s best aerial and sea-based logistics
system, the aircraft carrier can exploit the vast spaces of the open
oceans to threaten U.S. adversaries and provide needed assistance to
friends, all while minimizing its vulnerability to hostile action. This
is accomplished by the CSG’s ability to establish a broad section of the
open ocean as its operational maneuver space. The boundaries of this
space are determined by the maximum range at which carrier aircraft can
strike their targets, the maximum range at which threats to the carriers
from missile and air-breathing threats can be detected and the greatest
distance the resupply flights can reach the carrier. The greater the
range at which sensor platforms, strike systems and resupply aircraft
can operate, the larger the strike group’s operational maneuver box and
the more flexibility and survivability it will have.
Over the years potential adversaries have paid the CSG the
singular complement of focusing much of their naval strike assets on
defeating it or at least denying it a workable operational maneuver box.
The Soviet Union tried trailing the carriers with surface ships and
submarines, tracking it with airborne and even space-based sensors and
threatening it with massed raids by supersonic bombers. China’s People’s
Liberation Army Navy is reported to have developed a maneuvering
warhead for a long-range ballistic missile with the intention of using
them to defeat the CSG.
But the carrier strike group is deploying a number of
capabilities designed to counter the emerging threat and ensure that the
carrier and its escorts have the maximum operation space within which
to maneuver. First, there is the new F-35C Joint Strike Fighter. With
around double the range of the current FA-18 E/F, a more powerful radar
and better avionics, the F-35C can increase the strike range for the
strike group and provide enhanced air defense. Then there is the E-2D
Advanced Hawkeye, just entering deployment, The E-2D is a game changer
when it comes to managing the air defense battle and supporting strikes
against land and sea targets. With its improved radar, new sensor suite,
upgraded avionics and a massive communications sweep, the Advanced
Hawkeye can significantly expand the safe operational box in which the
CSG will operate. Finally, there is the certainty of resupply anywhere
in the operational box. Today, that job is performed by the venerable
C-2 Greyhound which carries supplies, personnel and mail out to the
carrier. The Greyhound’s substantial range, high service ceiling,
pressurized cockpit and large cargo ramps allows it to support the
carrier’s under all kinds of environmental conditions, and at extreme
ranges. The F-35C, E-2D and C-2 will contribute to making the aircraft
carrier one of the most effective and survivable platforms in the U.S.
Navy’s fleet.
The reports of the demise of the aircraft carrier are premature
to say the least. The above mentioned programs will provide the aircraft
carrier a new lease on life. Moreover, other technologies now under
development such as electromagnetic launch, high-powered lasers and
unmanned combat air vehicles will fundamentally change the role and
power of the carrier in future warfare.