24 May/June 2022
Military
(^6) Tech
GE
TT
Y^ I
MA
GE
S
nance—and that can really only be offered at sea by
a flat-deck carrier.”
Nuclear-powered carriers, like those that the
U.S. and France operate, have advantages, like trav-
eling at high speeds—a minimum advertised speed
of 33 knots—for months to years without refuel-
ing. This allows them to quickly steam to hot spots
around the world, responding faster to global crises.
THREATS ARE MATURING
Thirty years after the Cold War, a new generation of
weapons has evolved to threaten carriers. One such
weapon type is China’s growing arsenal of anti-ship
ballistic missiles, capable of targeting a moving air-
craft carrier at a range of up to 2,485 miles. Russia’s
new Kinzhal hypersonic weapon, with a reported
top speed of Mach 10 (7,673 mph), is launched from
a modified MiG-31 fighter.
While not a lot of things can sink an aircraft
carrier, one that just might do the trick is cost. The
latest U.S. carrier, USS Gerald Ford, cost a stagger-
ing $13 billion to develop. And that’s just the ship
itself: The cost of the air wing and escort ships could
easily top $10 billion.
Nuclear-powered carriers are also expensive,
even to scrap. The USS Bonhomme Richard, gut-
ted by a fire in 2020, was half the size of a carrier
and cost $30 million to dispose of. The nuclear-
powered USS Enterprise, however, might cost
between $1 billion and $1.5 billion to scrap, with
most of the cost going toward properly disposing of
the ship’s eight Westinghouse A2W nuclear reactors.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR U.S. CARRIERS?
Despite new dangers, the Navy still has confidence
in the aircraft carrier. The service is planning to
build three more f lat-tops after Ford: John F. Ken-
nedy, Enterprise, and Doris Miller. At this rate,
Ford-class carriers will replace the existing Nim-
itz-class carriers currently in the fleet, in a process
that will stretch to 2050—and beyond.
Ford-class carriers are also equipped with
technology that will allow the platform to grow
with the times, such as electromagnetic air-
craft catapults that help launch smaller, lighter,
unmanned drones. Additionally, the ships are
built with increased power-generating capability
for potential energy-hungry weapons.
But it is vital that the U.S., having invested in
the carrier more than any other country, be realis-
tic about when the sun finally sets on the platform.
“We put a ton of money into f lat-tops,” Hooper says.
“We had better do everything we can to get a good
return on our investment. They need to offer users
an enormous amount of value both in times of war
and in times of peace.”
KEY
MOMENTS
IN U.S.
CARRIER
HISTORY
The Attack on
Pearl Harbor
The attack in December
1941 was ultimately a
strategic failure, as the
Japanese failed to sink
the Pacific-based aircraft
carriers Enterprise,
Lexington, and Saratoga.
Carrier-based fighters
and bombers went on to
outrange the big guns
of battleships by a wide
margin.
The Kamikaze
In 1944, the Japanese
military created Special
Attack Units, a corps of
suicide pilots trained to fly
bomb-laden planes directly
into Allied warships.
Although the kamikazes
damaged more than 10
fleet carriers, they could
not sink any, thanks to the
ships’ sheer size, efficient
damage control, and ability
to defend themselves.
The End of
the Cold War
The dissolution of the
Soviet Union in 1991 saw
the U.S. Navy’s No. 1
enemy, the Soviet Navy,
evaporate virtually
overnight. Carriers took
on a new mission, acting as
a less vulnerable floating
air base to support land
wars in Yugoslavia, Iraq,
Afghanistan, Syria, and
Somalia.
The Invention of
the Atom Bomb
The test of the first Soviet
atomic bomb in 1949 led
to strengthened carrier
air defenses, including the
adoption of the Terrier
missile. The flexibility of
the embarked air wing
even allowed carriers
to co-opt the threat,
becoming deliverers of
atomic bombs as early as
1950.