The U.S. Navy Exploring The Potential Future Class Of Light Aircraft Carriers

The amphibious assault ship USS America, at the rear, sails together with the Nimitz class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. US Navy 

Warzone/The Drive: Navy Looking At America And Ford Class Derivatives In New Light Aircraft Carrier Studies 

Greater emphasis on unmanned aircraft, including ones that take off and land vertically, could also impact light aircraft carrier proposals. The U.S. Navy is once again conducting studies into what it might want out of a potential future class of light aircraft carriers, or CVLs. The service says it has already been looking at designs based on the aviation-focused America class amphibious assault ships and a "light" derivative of the new Ford class supercarriers, among others. 

Navy Rear Admiral Jason Lloyd offered the update on the Navy's light carrier initiative during an online talk that the American Society of Naval Engineers put on last week, which USNI News was first to report on. Lloyd is Naval Sea Systems Command's (NAVSEA) Deputy Commander for Ship Design, Integration and, Engineering, or SEA-05. The Navy resurrected the basic idea of acquiring a CVL of some kind, which has come and gone numerous times over the years, as part of a questionably ambitious overarching force structure plan it unveiled last year. You can read more about that proposal, known as Battle Force 2045, in these previous War Zone pieces. 

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WNU Editor: Not every conflict or military operation needs a 100,000 ton US super aircraft carrier to show-up off shore.