The Aircraft Carrier is This Generation's Battleship: Obsolete

Much as the battleship was the byproduct of a bygone era when World War II erupted in the Pacific, the modern aircraft carrier is symbol of a long-gone age. Today, massive arsenals of long-and-intermediate-range missiles can overwhelm the shipborne defenses of aircraft carriers and other US Navy warships. China has become a master at building their antiship capability to such a degree that many naval warfare specialists fear that the aircraft carrier would be render combat ineffective, if—and when—a Sino-American war erupted over Taiwan. 

And it’s not only rising great powers, like the People’s Republic of China that have created a massive arsenal of cheap (compared to the cost of US aircraft carriers) antiship missiles that can completely upend U.S. defense policy for the Indo-Pacific. 

It's tinpot, two-bit, third-rate terror organizations, like the Iran-backed Houthi Rebels in Yemen, who have proven the asymmetrical advantages that antiship missiles provide to enemies of the United States. For a fraction of the cost of US aircraft carriers, the Houthis proved in late 2023 that they can hold the entire US Navy at bay with such missiles. After the egregious Iran-backed Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel in October 2023, the Houthis intervened on the side of Hamas and began harrying foreign maritime trade by launching a ceaseless wave of terrorist attacks in the Red Sea. By doing so, the terrorists complicated international shipping, increased risk in that important industry, and exploded the cost of goods on everyone (since the global economy relies upon maritime trade). 

The US Navy has, since the end of the Second World War, been the guarantor of last resort for the world’s expansive maritime trading routes—notably in the Middle East. But the presence of Iran-provided antiship missiles under the control of the Houthis was more than enough to keep the bulk of the US Navy away from intervening against the terrorists in the Red Sea. 

Therefore, the terror on the Red Sea lasted far longer than it ordinarily would have. The hesitancy of the Pentagon to deploy the expensive naval assets under their command in the region to stop the terrorist attacks on the high seas not only increased the bite of the terror attacks on everyone, but it sent a signal to rivals, like China, that they’ve little to fear from America’s once fearsome aircraft carrier fleet.

The Pathway Forward Will Not Be Forged By America's Carriers

What’s needed instead is a refocus of US strategy to enhance and expand America’s submarine fleet. Smaller, more maneuverable, and harder-to-destroy surface warships should be invested in as well. Meanwhile, as both missiles and hypersonic weapons become the norm for modern warfare, rather than blowing America’s budget on legacy systems that won’t be useful, the Pentagon should be investing in its own hypersonic weapons and new age space weapons to counter the threats that its forces are facing globally. Until these actions are taken by the Pentagon, the US military’s effectiveness against its foes will continue to be degraded.

Like HBO's hit television series, The Sopranos, the age of the aircraft carrier is over. It's time for all of us to move on before it's too late for US military power.