Quote:
Originally Posted by sirkonstantine
Its because of Preemptiveness (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preemptive_war).
So, the US has floating, mobile airports so that it can strike anywhere in the world to prevent a larger conflict from happening. "Anywhere" means anywhere in N. America, S. America, Africa, Middle East, Europe, and the Pacific -- that's a lot of area if you think about it.
Having a mobile airport can reduce transit time by days.
Also, there might be 10 carriers but they go on rotation -- like, 1/3rd are in dock while 2/3rds are out at sea. So, really, its like 6 or 7 carriers around the globe and 3 are being maintained (and out of duty). This is another reason why there are so many carriers -- there's a need for other carriers to cover for the ones being maintained. |
If you look at history, they are not used this way. We do not enter every conflict with days to minimize its spread or some such. There is really no defensive need for this many.
Do we use them to interfere around the world. Yep, that seems to be the main use. Kind of an expensive way to fuck around in the third world.