{"id":54311,"date":"2019-09-27T21:56:58","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T21:56:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/09\/27\/the-us-still-needs-aircraft-carriers\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:01:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:01:46","slug":"the-us-still-needs-aircraft-carriers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2019\/09\/27\/the-us-still-needs-aircraft-carriers\/","title":{"rendered":"The US still needs aircraft carriers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many of the United States\u2019 foremost sea power experts met on Friday to consider the role of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/naval\/2019\/08\/06\/with-mounting-questions-about-cost-and-survivability-a-shifting-political-landscape-for-us-aircraft-carriers\/\" target=\"_blank\">aircraft carriers<\/a> as guarantors of national security. It was my privilege to participate in the Lexington Institute\u2019s inaugural Carrier Strike Group Forum held in Pentagon City, Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m not a Pentagon guy or a Navy Yard guy. My job is on the waterfront, ensuring that our aircraft carriers, aircraft, and the men and women who operate them have the tools, training and supplies they need to sail in support of national defense and maritime security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My staff and I recognize every day the value of aircraft carriers and of the supporting ships, aircraft squadrons and staffs that constitute America\u2019s unique and globally respected carrier strike groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/navy-league\/2019\/05\/06\/whats-killing-the-us-navys-air-wing\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1_coverjump_airwing.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">What\u2019s killing the US Navy\u2019s air wing?<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The U.S. Navy is on the brink of an explosion in research and development funding for its next-generation fighter program \u2014 an effort that could make or break the mainstay of the fleet\u2019s powerful strike arm.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I came away from today\u2019s well-informed and energetic discussion with confidence that aircraft carriers will continue to generate the offensive and defensive strength around which our Navy is organized to fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some say that carriers are too expensive. A fair assessment considers benefits as well as cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No other weapons system or combination of lesser systems in existence or on the drawing board is as lethal, agile and resilient as a full-sized nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and its air wing. Carriers deploy with the responsiveness, endurance, multidimensional might, inherent battlespace awareness, and command-and-control capabilities that America needs to prevail in great power competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fleet and combatant commanders are unequivocal and unrelenting in their requests for carrier strike group deployments. I experienced this firsthand in 2015 when I commanded the USS Theodore Roosevelt\u2019s Carrier Strike Group, and I recognize it today with USS Abraham Lincoln\u2019s strike group\u2019s deployment to U.S. Central Command. America needs and uses its aircraft carriers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A carrier strike group, by its mere presence, can shape events in the nation\u2019s favor. When deterrence gives way to war, a naval force enabled by an aircraft carrier and its air wing comes to the fight trained and equipped across a full range of missions, ready to control the sea, conduct strikes from the sea, and maneuver across the electromagnetic spectrum and in cyberspace. No other naval force fields a commensurate range and depth of combat capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carriers remain relevant and potent year after year and decade after decade because they are adaptable platforms in which flexible payloads deploy. Carrier air wings evolve, incorporating improved and revolutionary aircraft like the unmanned MQ-25 Stingray that first flew last week. The weapons carried by those aircraft evolve even faster, keeping carrier strike groups dominant over realized and potential threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The nation\u2019s considerable investment in a carrier pays off for at least half a century, twice the proven service life of other major classes of warships. The first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise, served the nation for 51 years. The 10 ships of the Nimitz class are on track to meet or exceed their planned 50-year service lives, the still-active lead ship of the class having been commissioned over 44 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3726\" height=\"2348\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/roykelley.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-114416\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/roykelley.jpg.jpg 3726w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/roykelley.jpg.jpg?resize=300,189 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/roykelley.jpg.jpg?resize=768,484 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/roykelley.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,645 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/roykelley.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,968 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/roykelley.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1291 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 3726px) 100vw, 3726px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic, Rear Adm. Roy J. Kelley  (U.S. Navy photo by MC2 Scott Wood)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ships of the new Gerald R. Ford class represent cutting-edge aircraft carrier design. As is the case in the introduction of any major technological innovation, there are cost, schedule and performance challenges to overcome. The Navy and the shipbuilder are overcoming these challenges, and the fleet will enjoy operational successes when the lead ship of this class joins the deployment rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some have noted that our adversaries have improved their anti-ship weapons. This is nothing new, nor does it mean that our carriers are defenseless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In World War II, America\u2019s carriers faced a threat from torpedoes and dive bombers. During the Cold War, adversaries fielded air-launched, supersonic, nuclear-tipped missiles. Today\u2019s missiles employ hypersonic speeds and ballistic trajectories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through it all, the U.S. Navy has developed and will continue to develop superior weapons and tactics to stay ahead of the threats. Carriers are mobile, defendable and durable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a time of war, aircraft carriers will be the most survivable airfields \u2014 perhaps the only survivable airfields \u2014 in the maritime area of operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I am proud to be a carrier aviator and a carrier sailor. I am also a critical thinker and have examined from many perspectives the Navy that our nation needs. That Navy needs aircraft carriers and their strike groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When our country has faced maritime crises, presidents have famously asked: \u201cWhere are the carriers?\u201d I am confident that presidents for decades to come will continue to ask that question, and that the answer must remain: \u201cManned, trained, equipped and ready.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Roy \u201cTrigger\u201d Kelley commands Naval Air Force Atlantic. From his headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, he oversees the manning, training and equipping of East Coast aircraft carriers and their assigned aircraft.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rear Adm. Roy Kelley discusses the continuing value of aircraft carriers in the age of hypersonic missiles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":48802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":16,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"7":{"categories":["commentary","opinion"],"primary_category":"commentary"}}},"categories":[66,160,16,36,17],"tags":[],"coauthors":[4647],"class_list":["post-54311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-daily-news-roundup","category-naval","category-newsletters","category-opinion"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"IECL3WB2S5BA3CRTPEEH2JDQG4","arc_canonical_url":"\/naval\/2019\/09\/27\/the-us-still-needs-aircraft-carriers\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The US still needs aircraft carriers - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rear Adm. 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