Folks can argue either way.
In the end, a carrier is a mobile air field. but it is oen that still needs to be protected...both by ships (surface and subs) and by its own aircraft.
But, that is a given and now you have an airfield, in the US Case, that can carry up to 90 aircraft anywhere in the world and come at an enemy from some place they may be least prepared for.
That is the utility of a carrier...either against land targets or against sea targets.
NAtions build carriers for that very good reason...and it is clear that in ordr for them to be able to get to those areas where they might be used, you need enough of them to have some deployed at all times. That is what the US does and why its Naval projection force is so strong.
The US Navy uses the same basic reasoning for the LHA/LHDs. They project land force power with air support. They have a lot of them...just like carriers...and they keep some of them out around the world all the time.
Smaller countries like the UK and france with far fewer resources and platforms cannot deoply like the US can...they simply do not have enough vessels.
China is going to build enough such vessels to keep some deployed...and I am willing to bet that once China has six carriers you will see two of them out and about in the world's oceans pretty much all of the time.
The US normally keeps three or four out all the time.
Anyhow, that is the basic utility of the platforms.
As time moves forward we are going to see several countries (instead of just one) have more than two carriers. The US, China, India, and Japan (though right now the four Japanese carriers do not carry fixed wing aircraft, I believe the time will come when they have two or three that do).
Right after World War II several coutnries maintained more than one or two carriers...but that slowly devolved into just the US.
Now we see more countries building more than one...or even two.
But now lets get back on topic!
This thread is not even supposed to be about carriers...it is about the Type 055 DDG.
LEAVE OFF WITH THE CARRIER DISCUSSION
In the end, a carrier is a mobile air field. but it is oen that still needs to be protected...both by ships (surface and subs) and by its own aircraft.
But, that is a given and now you have an airfield, in the US Case, that can carry up to 90 aircraft anywhere in the world and come at an enemy from some place they may be least prepared for.
That is the utility of a carrier...either against land targets or against sea targets.
NAtions build carriers for that very good reason...and it is clear that in ordr for them to be able to get to those areas where they might be used, you need enough of them to have some deployed at all times. That is what the US does and why its Naval projection force is so strong.
The US Navy uses the same basic reasoning for the LHA/LHDs. They project land force power with air support. They have a lot of them...just like carriers...and they keep some of them out around the world all the time.
Smaller countries like the UK and france with far fewer resources and platforms cannot deoply like the US can...they simply do not have enough vessels.
China is going to build enough such vessels to keep some deployed...and I am willing to bet that once China has six carriers you will see two of them out and about in the world's oceans pretty much all of the time.
The US normally keeps three or four out all the time.
Anyhow, that is the basic utility of the platforms.
As time moves forward we are going to see several countries (instead of just one) have more than two carriers. The US, China, India, and Japan (though right now the four Japanese carriers do not carry fixed wing aircraft, I believe the time will come when they have two or three that do).
Right after World War II several coutnries maintained more than one or two carriers...but that slowly devolved into just the US.
Now we see more countries building more than one...or even two.
But now lets get back on topic!
This thread is not even supposed to be about carriers...it is about the Type 055 DDG.
LEAVE OFF WITH THE CARRIER DISCUSSION
