Dave Patterson: Are Aircraft Carriers Too Vulnerable to Be Useful?

Every so often, someone will present a case disparaging the value of the US Navy’s aircraft carriers. These attempts to persuade military leaders of more effective ways to project sea power generally pick up on some new weapon or threat to justify deep-sixing the backbone of the US force presence – the modern nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. So it is with economist Mr. Philip Pilkington’s National Interest article “Why Aircraft Carriers Are Becoming Obsolete.”