The U.S. Navy's Great Aircraft Carrier Shortage
Summary and Key Points: The USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) is en route to the Middle East to support commercial shipping and deter Iran-backed Houthis, replacing the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) in the Red Sea.
-This deployment highlights a critical "gap" in the Indo-Pacific, with CVN-76 in the Pacific post-Japan deployment and CVN-73 near South America.
-Admiral S.J. Paparo emphasizes the indispensable role of aircraft carriers in power projection, but the US Navy faces a shortage, with only five to six carriers operational at a time.
-Solutions may include deploying smaller conventionally-powered aircraft carriers or collaborating more closely with allies like the Royal Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
Aircraft Carriers in High Demand: US Navy Faces Operational Strain
The United States Navy's USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) is now heading towards the Middle East. Joined by her escorts, the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered carrier will reach the Red Sea later this month, where she is expected to help protect commercial shipping and deter the Iran-back Houthis. However, as previously reported, the rebel group has also made bold claims that it will sink the U.S. carrier.
Yet, the bigger story isn't an impending showdown between the U.S. Navy and the Houthis. That situation is widely expected to remain little different from what it has been since USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) was deployed to the same waters last fall following the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, which has resulted in the largest military actions in the Middle East in years. Israel remains committed to destroying Hamas, which also has the backing of Tehran, while it has been exchanging fire with the Lebanon-based Iran-supported Hezbollah.
CVN-69 is returning to the United States.
As a result, the spotlight is now on a "gap" that the deployment of CVN-71 to the Middle East has left in the Indo-Pacific. USS Theodore Roosevelt had recently taken part in the Freedom Edge joint exercise with the navies of Japan and South Korea, carried out as a deterrent to saber rattling from North Korea. Now the supercarrier is on the way to the Red Sea, while USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) is in the middle of the Pacific, following the end of her forward deployment in Japan.
CVN-76's replacement, USS George Washington (CVN-73) is reported to be in the Eastern Pacific near South America after returning to service last spring following her four-year Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH).
Indispensable Warships – But Too Few to Go Around!
Writing for the U.S. Naval Institute this month, Admiral S.J. Paparo (U.S. Navy) described the modern flattop as succinctly as possible: "Aircraft carriers are indispensable combat platforms. With their air wings, these mighty, mobile, maritime air bases offer a unique combination of versatility and force, enabling the nation to project air power across the globe without the constraints of basing rights and geopolitical borders. Naval aviation and aircraft carriers are critical capabilities within a system of joint, combined, all-domain warfighting."
The importance of the carrier in power projection cannot be overstated.
"Unlike fixed airfields, which are always vulnerable to attack and require significant effort to defend, aircraft carriers can maneuver across the oceans, making them a challenging target. Mobility allows carriers to operate in areas where they can maximize their effectiveness while minimizing their vulnerability to attack," Admiral Paparo added.
But the current situation now highlights the U.S. Navy's "Achilles Heel" – namely that there simply aren't enough of the warships to go around. The U.S. Navy extended the deployment of CVN-69 multiple times and the warship and her crew were pushed hard as a result. How stretched thin the U.S. Navy's carrier fleet has only come into focus as the sea service must deal with multiple threats at the same time.
As noted, CVN-69 is coming home from the Red Sea, and CVN-71 will remain in the region until at least later this summer when USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) relieves her. The United States Navy is now forced to play an increasingly complex game of musical chairs with its operational carriers.
It may technically operate 11 nuclear-powered supercarriers – 10 Nimitz class and one Gerald R. Ford class – but rarely are more than five or six at sea at any given time. Long deployments mean longer time undergoing maintenance, and each vessel must endure the lengthy RCOH. The problem is made worse by the state of the U.S. carrier industrial base, which builds and maintains the vessels, including the lack of shipyards. Nuclear-powered carriers are also taking longer to build, are costly to maintain, and then costly and complex to retire.
Perhaps it is time to think again about how smaller conventionally-powered carriers could support the larger warships in operations around the globe, and fill the gaps that are now emerging.
The other option may be for the United States to work more closely with its allies and partners that operate carriers. The U.S. Navy can't maintain a presence everywhere, but the Royal Navy, the French Marine Nationale, Italy's Regia Marina, and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force now each operate carriers that although smaller than those of the Nimitz or Ford class, could still operate in some of these regions – and possibly alongside other U.S. warships. The U.S. Navy clearly needs to address the carrier shortage, one way or another.
Author Experience and Expertise: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.
All images are Creative Commons and/or Shutterstock.