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The US hasn't fought any "real opponent" with anything approaching economic parity since WWII. As long as the US is beating up on countries like Iraq, Panama an
by DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
The US hasn't fought any "real opponent" with anything approaching economic parity since WWII. As long as the US is beating up on countries like Iraq, Panama and Libya, its carriers are safe, as are its aircraft, etc.
Even against these weak opponents, however, it's still a big question as to why the US needs 10+ carrier fleets. Again, I strongly suspect the answer comes down to bureaucratic inertia and capture of the government by industry lobbies.
- dragonwriter 7y ago> Even against these weak opponents, however, it's still a big question as to why the US needs 10+ carrier fleets. Because the Earth is big and ships are slow (and sometimes out of service), and also because deterrence can be necessary in a lot of places in close temporal proximity. (Whether this is the optimal use of resources considering non-military needs is another question, but there is a real purpose to the size of the fleet.)