Have we forgotten that aircraft carriers needed for air power far from land air bases aren't as necessary where land bases exist?
Will land-based F-35s be just as much of a deterrent and combat force as carrier-based F-35s?
The aircraft carrier remains a potent signal of American intentions — but it is not the only asset at the United States’ disposal to project hard power, should it be called on.
Recent events in the Middle East demonstrate that the F-35s deployed abroad are arguably just as, if not more important, than the capital ships on which they deploy.
And given the F-35’s capabilities, the aircraft’s presence alone should be interpreted as a signal of American fixity of purpose on par with that of the aircraft carrier.
The article is more about spreading out and sustaining the F-35 for a long struggle with the above observation almost made in passing, but the observation is one I've made well before F-35Bs and F-35Cs went to sea:
Land-based air power has always been an important part of naval aviation. Even with our total carrier dominance by the end of World War II in the Pacific, we needed to plan for an amphibious landing on Kyushu Island to establish air bases prior to the main assault on the Tokyo region.
In the context of our needing land-based air when we had fleets of carriers roaming the seas, the idea that even two carriers in CENTCOM is enough naval air power is kind of ridiculous. Why not put Navy (or Marine Corps) planes ashore in the Gulf region?
Carrier-based aircraft do have the advantage of not needing host nation permission. For punitive missions against a minor enemy, a carrier or two is enough.
But in a major operation in CENTCOM against enemy forces ashore, carriers would need local allies for diplomatic and military support in addition to
permission to use their land facilities and bases to support carrier
operations. Carrier aviation would only be able to assist land-based aircraft, which would do the heavy lifting.
As long as we have that kind of host nation support in peacetime, I don't know why land-based aircraft can't be used for punitive missions. We could deploy a portion of a carrier air wing ashore even if the carrier is available.
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NOTE: I made the image with Bing.
