The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln transits while under way in the Arabian Sea, May 24, 2012. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Amanda L. Kilpatrick
Does Anybody Still Need Aircraft Carriers? -- BBC
A major piece of Britain's new one has arrived at a dockyard, China is testing one, but 100 years after the concept was invented, does anybody still need aircraft carriers?
They are floating airfields that can deploy a nation's military might across the world's oceans.
In May 1912, the first plane took off from a moving warship, HMS Hibernia, temporarily adapted for the purpose. The idea of dedicated floating platforms had been mooted in 1909, but it wasn't until 1918 that HMS Argus became the first proper carrier.
Today, ownership of a carrier for fixed-wing aircraft admits a nation to an elite club, but the US has more than everyone else in the world put together.
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My Comment: I am trying to visualize a U.S. without any aircraft carriers .... and I cannot. Aircraft carriers project military power in a manner that nothing else can .... and in some conflicts their role becomes indisputable. So the answer is yes .... aircraft carriers are still needed.
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