Aircraft Carriers

（单词翻译）

Being a super power, it’s not possession of nuclear weapons, it’s not having a large armed forces, it’s not having higher tech equipment than anyone else, if there’s one thing that defines being a superpower – it’s force ¹⁾projection¹, and basically if you don’t have aircraft carriers you don’t have force projection. 

These giants of the ocean have been around since the twenties, giving potential air superiority across the globe. If you bear in mind that the ²⁾overwhelming majority of the world population live within 200 miles of the sea, if you’ve got a carrier, that means you can project that air power which can protect land forces and ³⁾maritime forces to most of the areas of the world that you are likely to fight. Aircraft carrier is power, ⁴⁾flexibility² and range. Carriers are the pride of any fleet. They’re vital command and control ⁵⁾facilities in any modern conflict. 

You can hold your force offshore³ in international waters where no one can basically say you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. And then if a crisis develops, you can push them forward into the direct battle zone. It allows you to be both over the horizon and in someone’s face. There’s nothing more in your face than the American nuclear powered aircraft carriers. Four and a half billion dollars and five years to build they’re the ultimate show of state sized military might. You have there examples of people starting off with a blank sheet of paper and basically a blank cheque book and said build it for the operational task and mission and you’ve got that big box of a hanger⁴ that a big flat top and you’ve got all the space that you need.

The new French nuclear aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle, is almost a case study in how not to do it. ⁶⁾Compromised on the reactor⁵, compromised on the hanger space, compromised on the size of the deck. The ⁷⁾Brits couldn’t or wouldn’t spend the cash on the Invincible⁶ class carriers in the 80s. The three ships are small short ⁸⁾takeoff and ⁹⁾vertical⁷ landing rather than ¹⁰⁾conventional or sea carriers, but they work. But they can operate in much worse weather. The cycle rate of aircraft you get with a ¹¹⁾stol carrier is about twice that of a conventional take-off and landing one. And they’ve done the business when the call came. 

Aircraft carriers are usually at the center of a task group, destroyers and ¹²⁾frigates protect their major asset from ¹³⁾submarine, aircraft and missile threats and that is ¹⁴⁾crucial. Any platform that’s carrying about six billion dollars worth of aircraft, six to eight thousand men is tempting⁹ for anyone with good anti-ship missiles.  If you wanted to make a huge political, military point, well, sinking an aircraft carrier is a very, very good way to do it. CE