Please inform the carrier strike groups that the Pips are no less important than Gladys Knight.
Are we reaching a point in which the surface fleet, with the long-range Maritime Strike Tomahawk missile, will become the preferred platform-weapon combination for U.S. anti-ship warfare? Could this subsequently shift the role of the aircraft carrier and its air wing to being the supporting platforms rather than the supported?
The author answers yes and yes.
Surface warfare ships aren't just the Pips in the Gladys Knight carrier-centric act. I've been highlighting the need to transition to this way of thinking all this century:
The question of whether large aircraft carriers deserve to be the center of our future naval strategy is a fundamental question that has not been adequately explored. Network-centric warfare signals the beginning of the end for the United States Navy's large aircraft carriers. They will lose their value as an instrument of forward presence and become valuable targets that, if struck, will encourage an enemy at the outset of war by apparently demonstrating that American technological prowess can be nullified and beaten. In the long run, large aircraft carriers will add little to most offensive missions and will absorb scarce resources and assets simply evading attack rather than striking the enemy and contributing to victory.
The carrier in the supporting role for sea control missions is clearly here, I think, given network-centric warfare. Let's act on this before burning and sinking carriers demonstrate that carriers are no longer the apex predator of blue water navies.
Of course, power projection in peacetime is a different issue. But those two missions too often are conflated, making the debate fruitless on those terms.
Indeed, in this article on China's new big carrier reigniting the carrier debate by allowing people to say "But China wants them" as their argument, the article specifically talks about "power projection" missions. That's not the issue. I'm fully on board that mission. A role in sea control is the issue.
So how many carriers do we need for power projection? And what do we need for sea control? Let's have a seapower debate rather than yet another fruitless carrier debate.
NOTE: TDR Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here.
NOTE: I'm adding updates on the Last Hamas War in this post.NOTE: You may also read my posts on Substack, at The Dignified Rant: Evolved.NOTE: I created the image with the imgflip AI.
