Aircraft Carriers - The Future
An increasing number of navies view the aircraft carrier as a viable platform for projecting national power - currently there are nine countries which have aircraft carriers in service: Brazil, France, India, Italy, Russia, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom and of course, the United States. It is interesting that the People's Liberation Army - Naval (PLAN)- in China does not yet actually have a carrier in service, though this is expected to change in the next few years. The worldwide total number of operational aircraft carriers is currently twenty two. Half of these (eleven) are in US service. At least eight nations have new carriers in the concept, design, bought used and refurbishing or new build phases. Spain has succeeded in selling its 'Principe de Asturias' design to other navies, and China, Japan and India are developing the capability to build their own carriers - in China's case, even a nuclear powered platform for its new generation planes. VTOL (vertical take off and landing) aircraft - the British Harrier derivatives are used for example by India, Spain and Italy, has allowed these countries to project credible carrier power. The US F35D Joint Strike Aircraft - a STVOL configuration - can only 'grow the market' amongst 'western' nations.
Most strategists see the aircraft carrier as a keystone of military doctrine, in spite of the vast concentration of power and investment (both political and financial) in what is a very and vulnerable target.
Russia currently has only one carrier in service at present and is an exception. It extends for almost 12 time zones - nearly halfway around the world . With a fleet of modern land-based aircraft and effective missile technology, it can arguably project its power without a large carrier fleet, at least in the northern hemisphere.
What is an Aircraft Carrier?
A floating, mobile airbase, though not capable of handling large transport planes such as the C130 Hercules. This definition is usually taken to include any vessel capable of handling fixed wing fighter/bomber aircraft, of which there are several types. For these purposes, we exclude pure helicopter carriers, as even cargo ships can carry these (witness the Falklands War).
Types of Aircraft Carrier
Supercarrier: typically greater than 50,000 tons loaded displacement, usually nuclear powered, and able to handle fast jets
Fleet Carrier: mid size typically 20,000 tons upward, not nuclear powered, maybe even diesel powered, the 'typical' size in a country's fleet.
Light Aircraft Carrier: smaller than the fleet carrier, though this definition is vague.
As can be seen, this classification structure is dependent on a country's fleet configuration. Some might well describe the carrier Charles de Gaulle as a supercarrier - steam catapults, nuclear powered, but is it really a supercarrier when compared to, say, US aircraft carriers such as the US Nimitz Class George W Bush, of nearly 100,000 tons displacement and typically carrying well over 100 fixed wing aircraft?
Carrier Configurations
CATOBAR : catapult launching of fixed wing aircraft but arrested recovery.
STOBAR: Short take off but arrested recovery. Currently, these have been using the UK Sea Harrier VTOL aircraft in STOVL mode using a 'ski jump' launch.
STOVL: Short take off and vertical landing. As with STOBAR, but vertical landing. Less attractive because of the additional fuel (equals less armament load) required for the landing phase, and flight deck damage problems due to its down directed exhaust jet during landing.
Entry Barriers to the Carrier Club
These include:
Constitutional bars, such as Japan, Germany and (until recently) Italy, following their World War 2 aggression.
Operational Capability Development takes a lot of investment and political commitment. Second-hand carriers and infrastructure requirements can be bought or hired. A new branch of naval operations has to be set up. This is not trivialA major task - training establishments have to be set up and operated, replenishment, repair and logistics operations have to be established, for example.
A country must develop its tactical and strategic policies to effectively present and operate its carriers in line with its national strategic objectives in a credible way.
The basics - establishing the twenty four hours a day, year round operational tempo of running a carrier have to be developed, implemented and rehearsed exhaustively if a carrier force is to be credible - launching at night in bad weather, crew recovery, anti-submarine measures, re-arming and weapons handling, coordinated carrier protection - the list is extensive. Some countries cooperate in this respect. For example Brazil is assisting China to develop its operational capability in exchange for technological assistance in the areas of nuclear power and defence electronics.
Aircraft Carriers - The Future
The future of the aircraft carrier seems to be assured. The advent of a new generation of STOVL aircraft, and the emergence of India and China into the serious carrier club (with Pakistan also likely to join during this century) means that before the mid 21st century, the carrier arms race will be accelerating.
Britain is building bigger carriers - the Queen Elizabeth Class supercarrier. These British aircraft carriers will be well over twice the the size of their previous generation; decommissioned carriers are increasingly being bought by smaller nations, so the operational worldwide tonnage is bound to increase - average annual new build tonnage is higher than scrappage; the US is building a new generation - The Gerald R Ford Class. Countries which have an operational aircraft carrier never relinquish that capability.
Electromagnetic launch systems - simpler, lighter, than steam catapults are being designed. These will launch unmanned aircraft at G forces which human pilots could not survive. Aerial operations flown by unmanned planes controlled remotely by carrier-based (or even land-based) jocks via secure data link - an extension and broadening of existing Predator operations into dogfighting.
New carrier-busting missiles such as the Chinese Dong Feng 21D (NATO CSS 5 Mod-4) are sure to lead to enhanced defensive technology developments.
About the Author
What's the near future in technology, politics and culture? Check out http://www.jamesmarinero.com and find out now about Gate of Tears - a Middle East based thriller - an exciting mix of gold fever, politics and naval confrontation involving China - at http://www.gateoftears.com
Tell others about
this page:
Comments? Questions? Email Here