HISTORY60 - Aircraft Carriers

Aircraft carriers are of special interest to me because my son John Ring was the commanding officer of the United States Navy’s USS Nimitz (shown below), from July 8, 2014 to January 12, 2017.

 

The roadmap for this discussion of the history of aircraft carriers is the following:  Early History thru World War I, Interwar Years, World War II, Developments since World War II, Conflicts since World War II, and Conclusions.  I will focus on United States carriers, but will also discuss the extensive international developments, particularly by the British, that were instrumental to U.S. progress.

My principal sources include “History of the aircraft carrier,” “Aircraft Carrier,” “Timeline of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy,” Wikipedia; “How the American Aircraft Carrier Became King of the Seas,” popularmechanics.com; “Aircraft Carriers and Naval Aircraft,” encyclopedia.com; “Evolution of the Aircraft Carrier,” history.navy.mil; “U.S. Periods of War and Dates of Recent Conflicts,” everycrsreport.com; and numerous other online sources.

Introduction

In just a century and a half, the aircraft carrier has evolved from a platform to deploy reconnaissance balloons, to canvas-winged biplanes, to today’s formidable fighter jets, strike aircraft, reconnaissance aircraft, helicopters, and other types of aircraft, capable of attacking targets hundreds of miles away.  The carrier has developed from a wooden barge, to a hastily erected wooden deck on an existing ship, to a purposely-designed nuclear-powered floating airfield worth tens of billions of dollars, and manned by thousands of sailors and airmen. 

Early History thru Word War I

Balloon Carriers.  During the American Civil War, gas-filled balloons were used by Union forces to perform reconnaissance on Confederate positions.  A coal barge, USS George Washington Parke Custis, was cleared of all deck rigging to accommodate the gas generators and apparatus of balloons.   From the barge, Professor Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, Chief Aeronaut of the Union Army Balloon Corps, made his first ascents over the Potomac River and telegraphed what he saw on the first aerial venture ever made from a water-borne vessel.  Other barges were converted for balloon launches from eastern waterways, but none of these Civil War craft ever took to the high seas.

Civil War balloon barge.

  

Balloons launched from ships led to the development of balloon carriers, or balloon tenders, during World War I, by the navies of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Sweden.  About ten such "balloon tenders" were built, their main objective being aerial observation posts.

Seaplane Carriers.  The invention of the seaplane in 1910 led to development of the earliest ship designed as an aircraft carrier, albeit limited to aircraft equipped with floats.  In December 1911, the French Navy’s Foudre, was commissioned as a seaplane tender, and carried seaplanes under hangars on the main deck, from where they were lowered onto the sea with a crane.  The ship participated in tactical exercises in the Mediterranean in 1912.  Foudre was further modified in 1913 with a 10-meter flat deck to launch her seaplanes.

Great Britain’s HMS Hermes cruiser, was temporarily converted as an experimental seaplane carrier in April-May 1913.

In September 1914, during World War I, in the Battle of Tsingtao, the Imperial Japanese Navy seaplane carrier Wakamiya conducted the world's first successful naval-launched air raids.  It lowered four seaplanes into the water using its crane.  These seaplanes later took off in order to bombard German forces, and were retrieved from the surface afterwards.

On the Western front the first naval air raid occurred on December 25, 1914, when twelve seaplanes from England’s HMS Engadine, Riviera and Empress (cross-channel steamers converted into seaplane carriers) attacked the Zeppelin base at Cuxhaven.  The attack was not a complete success, although a German warship was damaged; nevertheless, the raid demonstrated in the European theater the feasibility of attack by ship-borne aircraft, and showed the strategic importance of this new weapon.

The U.S. Navy’s first seaplane carrier, the USS Mississippi, was converted from a battleship in 1913.  Mississippi’s fledgling seaplanes saw action during the American occupation of Veracruz, Mexico, launching reconnaissance missions.  Mississippi also lowered the aircraft into the water, and collected them after they had landed.  While this had its advantages at the time, it also prevented aircraft from flying when seas were rough.

Flat Deck Carriers.  The first major step toward the modern aircraft carrier came when ships started launching planes from their decks rather than the sea.  But this required deck space, and lots of it.  Early experiments saw traditional battleships and cruisers, temporarily converted with rudimentary wooden flight decks built over gun turrets.

The first person to fly off a stationary ship was civilian pilot Eugene B. Ely, who on November 14, 1910, successfully launched from the modified cruiser, USS Birmingham.  Ely, who couldn’t swim, wore two bicycle inner tubes across his chest as a makeshift life jacket.

First airplane taking off from a stationary warship, November 14, 1910.

  

The Birmingham was fitted with an 83-foot-long wooden flight deck over its forward guns that sloped forward slightly to help give Ely’s Curtiss Pusher some extra momentum during takeoff.  Rolling down the deck, the biplane plunged towards the water, its wheels dipping into the sea before ascending and landing on the nearby shore.

Two months later, in January 1911, Ely completed the first successful deck landing aboard a stationary warship, the modified battleship, the USS Pennsylvania - using an aircraft tail hook that grabbed ropes on the deck as a crude stopping system.

First aircraft landing on a stationary warship, January 18, 1911..

  

Commander Charles Rumney Samson, Royal Navy, became the first airman to take off from a moving warship, on 9 May 1912.  He took off in a Short S.38 from the modified English battleship HMS Hibernia, while she steamed at 17 mph.

England’s battlecruiser, HMS Furious, was modified as an aircraft carrier while under construction.  Her forward turret was removed and a flight deck was added in its place, such that aircraft had to maneuver around the superstructure to land.  Later, the ship had her rear turret removed and a second flight deck installed aft of the superstructure.  On August 2, 1917, Squadron Commander E.H. Dunning, Royal Navy, landed his Sopwith Pup aircraft on HMS Furious in Scapa Flow, Orkney, becoming the first man to land a plane on a moving ship.  He was killed five days later during another landing on Furious.

Britain’s HMS Furious in 1918.  Originally constructed with a forward deck only; an aft deck was added in 1918.

 

One of the most successful aircraft carrier operations in World War I took place on July 19, 1918, when seven Sopwith Camels launched from Britain’s HMS Furious, attacked the German Zeppelin base at Tondern, Denmark.  Several airships and balloons were destroyed.  

Interwar Years

The period between World War I and World War II saw a number of firsts in aircraft carrier development.  In 1918, the British HMS Argus (converted from an ocean liner that was under construction), was the first aircraft carrier to have a full-length flight deck and aircraft elevators.  England’s HMS Hermes, launched in 1924, was the first carrier to have a control tower island (raised platform to direct air operations) and a hurricane bow (a bow sealed up to the flight deck).  In the East, the Japanese Imperial Navy experimented with carriers, commissioning the world’s first purpose-built aircraft carrier, the Honsho, in late 1922.

Britain’s HMS Hermes aircraft carrier with the first control tower island and hurricane deck.

 

The first U.S. carrier was the USS Langley (CV-1), converted in 1922 from the cargo ship Jupiter, with a full-length flight deck.  Langley could operate thirty-four aircraft and steam at 15 knots.  The Langley proved to be an important testbed.

Note: U.S. Navy aircraft carriers are identified by their hull numbers.  Carriers intended to operate with the main fleet were numbered in the "CV" series, which was originated as part of the cruiser ("C") group of designations.  The number following “CV” refers to the sequence of the ship’s construction start date.  During and after World War II, ships in the CV series were frequently given modified designations, including “CVL” for light or small carrier, “CVE” for escort carrier, and “CVN” for nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

The first American aircraft carrier, USS Langley (CV-1), underway in 1927.

  

During World War II, Japanese planes sank the Langley on February 27, 1942 as it was ferrying U.S. Army Air Force planes to Java.

The Washington Naval (disarmament) Conference of 1922, limited construction of the era’s primary naval weapon, battleships.  This required the cancellation of the partially-built battleships Lexington and Saratoga, freeing up their hulls for conversion to aircraft carriers, and thus laid the foundation of American carrier air power. 

The USS Lexington (CV-2) and USS Saratoga (CV-3) were big and fast, at 33,000 tons and 33 knots, had full-length flight decks, and carried a normal complement of nearly one hundred planes.  They entered service in the late 1920s and would go on to be instrumental in cementing the carrier as a premiere ship of the U.S. Navy, when once again the world plunged back into war.  They enabled U.S. naval strategists to develop the doctrine and tactics that projected American air power across oceans.

Lexington was sunk May 8, 1942 in World War II’s Battle of the Coral Sea.  Saratoga served through the war, only to become a target vessel for the Bikini Atoll atomic bomb tests of 1946.

In the years before World War II, the U.S. Navy began adding fleet aircraft carriers (designed to operate with the main fleet), with Ranger (CV-4) in 1934, Yorktown (CV-5) in 1937, Enterprise (CV-6) in 1938, Wasp (CV-7) in 1940, and Hornet (CV-8) in 1941.

World War II - the Carrier War

The aircraft carrier dramatically changed naval warfare in World War II, because air power was becoming a significant factor in warfare.   The advent of aircraft as focal weapons was driven by the superior range, flexibility, and effectiveness of carrier-launched aircraft.  They had greater range and precision than naval guns, making them highly effective.

On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, with more than 400 aircraft attacking from six carriers. Four American battleships were sunk, four more damaged, and over 2,000 people were killed. The U.S. Navy’s three Pacific carriers - Enterprise, Lexington, and Saratoga - were all at sea during the attack.

In retaliation, the U.S. executed one of the most ambitious missions ever launched from an aircraft carrier. Led by the U.S. Army Air Force, the Doolittle Raid launched on April 18, 1942, saw 16 B-25 medium bombers launch an audacious bombing raid against Tokyo, Nagoya, Kobe, and Osaka on the Japanese mainland - all aircraft launched from the carrier USS Hornet CV-8).  Although the raid caused comparatively minor damage, it demonstrated that the Japanese mainland was vulnerable to American air attacks, and provided an important boost to American morale.

 

The USS Hornet (CV-8) during the Doolittle raid on Japan on April 18, 1942.

 

U.S. carrier development continued during World War II.  USS Essex (CV-9) was followed by 23 similar carriers, 27,000-ton vessels, that carried 90-100 aircraft, constructed from 1942 to 1946.  These ships played a central role in the Pacific theater of World War II from 1943 through the end of the war, beginning with raids in the central Pacific and the invasion of Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. The ships successfully performed a number of missions, included air superiority, attacking the Japanese fleet, supporting landings, fleet protection, bombing the Japanese home islands, and transporting aircraft and troops.  Amazingly, none was ever sunk.

Wartime conversions from light cruiser hulls added nine light carriers (CVL-22 thru CVL-30)) to the fleet.  These 15,000-ton ships operated at 31 knots or more, but only had complements of 45 airplanes - half those of Essex.   Concurrently, a class of escort carriers (CVEs) - 112 in all - sprang from converted merchant hulls.  The CVEs made less than 20 knots, carried fewer than 30 planes, and served primarily as submarine hunter-killers. Their presence compelled the German undersea force to play defense, rendering it increasingly ineffective.  The support role of CVEs in amphibious landings put some in harm's way; five were sunk, variously by submarine, kamikaze, or cruiser gunfire.

The three major carrier battles of World War II were those of the Coral Sea, Midway, and the Philippine Sea.  

The Battle of the Coral Sea, May 4-8,1942, kept Japan from landing forces at Port Moresby, New Guinea, and marked the end of Japanese southward expansion.  U.S. forces lost CV-2 Lexington (in exchange for the Japanese aircraft carrier Shoho).  Coral Sea was the first carrier vs. carrier battle in history where the opposing forces never saw each other.

The Battle of Midway, June 3-7, 1942, reversed the offensive-defensive roles and frustrated Japanese strategic plans.  The United States lost Yorktown (CV-5), but Japan lost all four of the carriers they brought to the battle, with all planes, pilots, and mechanics aboard.  These Japanese forces were very experienced and combat tested in China and in the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Midway turned the tide of WWII.

The Battle of the Philippine Sea, June 19-21, 1944, was the largest carrier battle in history, involving 24 aircraft carriers, deploying roughly 1,350 carrier-based aircraft.  Japan lost three carriers, two to U.S. submarines; the United States lost no ships.  Japanese aircraft losses totaled 500, to some 100 for the United States.  The aerial part of the battle was nicknamed the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot” by American aviators for the severely disproportional loss ratio inflicted upon Japanese aircraft by American pilots and anti-aircraft gunners.  Sixteen American pilots and 33 aircrewmen were lost, whereas Japan lost almost all of its remaining carrier pilots, leading later in the war to desperate Kamikaze tactics. The Japanese defeat in this battle marked the end of Japanese carrier intervention.  

Air strikes from U.S carriers spearheaded the North African landings in 1942, as well as every Pacific assault.  In the last months of the war, the dominance of U.S. carrier-borne airpower proved decisive.  With Japan's fleet decimated, the war would soon be over.  

The USS Enterprise (CV-6) participated in more major actions of the war against Japan than any other U.S. ship

  

Carrier Developments Since World War II

After proving their worth during World War II, the U.S. Navy continued to develop the aircraft carrier force, with vessels growing ever larger, more powerful, and able to carry modern jet aircraft. 

New Carrier Classes.  Several different classes of aircraft carriers (groups of carriers with similar design) were built, each larger than the last.  See the table below. 

Carrier   Class	Year Introduced	Displacement   (tons)	Length   (feet)	Max Speed   (mph)	No. of   Aircraft	No. of Crew	No. of Ships  Commissioned
Midway	1945	45,000	972	38	130	4,675	7
Forrestal	1955	60,000	1,036	38	90	4,000+	6
Enterprise	1961	75,000	1,101	38.7	90	4,600	3
Nimitz	1975	97,000	1,092	36.2	90	4,582	10
Gerald R. Ford	2017	100,000	1,092	35+	75+	4,297	2

 

The USS Forrestal (CV-59), the lead ship of her class, was commissioned on October 1, 1955, as the world’s first “supercarrier” (an unofficial term for large aircraft carriers).

 

America’s first supercarrier, USS Forrestal (CV-59).

The USS Enterprise (CVN-65), the lead ship of her class, was commissioned on November 25, 1961, as the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

America’s first nuclear-power aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise (CVN-65).

  

The USS Nimitz (CVN-68), the lead ship of her class, was commissioned on May 3, 1975.  The Nimitz class was ordered to supplement Enterprise-class carriers, maintaining the strength and capability of the U.S. Navy after older carriers were decommissioned.  Improvements included reduced space for the nuclear reactors, permitting more aviation fuel and weaponry to be carried.

 

USS Nimitz.

 

The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), the lead ship of her class, was commissioned on July 22, 2017. The Gerald R. Ford class will replace the Navy's current carriers on a one-for-one basis, eventually taking the place of the existing Nimitz-class carriers. The new vessels have a hull similar to the Nimitz-class, but introduce technologies such as an electronic aircraft launch system; a larger flight deck; improvements in weapons and material handling; a new propulsion plant design that requires fewer people to operate and maintain; a new, smaller island that has been pushed aft; and advanced arresting gear.  An integrated warfare system has been developed to allow the ship to more easily take on new missions.  These advances will allow the new Gerald R. Ford-class carriers to launch 25% more sorties, generate triple the electrical power with improved efficiency, offer crew quality-of-life improvements, and reduce operating costs - including sailing with smaller crews.

USS Gerald R. Ford at sea.

 

New Technology Development.   Here are some of the major technology developments following World War II, that have been incorporated on the evolving classes of U.S. aircraft carriers.

Jet Aircraft.  Jet aircraft offered the aircraft carrier faster and higher altitude strike capability, and superior air-to-air defenses than previous propeller-powered aircraft.   The first jet takeoffs and landings from/on an aircraft carrier were made by Lt Cdr Eric "Winkle" Brown, on Britain’s HMS Ocean in the specially modified de Havilland Vampire LZ551/G aircraft on December 3, 1945.  On July 21, 1946, the McDonnell FH-1 Phantom was the first U.S. jet aircraft to take off from and land on a U.S. aircraft carrier, and subsequently it became the first U.S. jet fighter in operational service with both the Navy and Marine Corps.

The first jet aircraft takeoffs and landing from/on an aircraft carrier occurred in 1945.

  

Angled Flight Deck.  The angled flight deck was invented by Royal Navy Captain (later Rear Admiral) Dennis Cambell, and first incorporated on the British HMS Warrior in 1948.   The first American carrier to employ an angled flight deck was the retrofitted USS Antietam (CV-36) in 1952.  Since the introduction of the Forrestal-class of aircraft carriers in 1955, all U.S. carriers have had angled flight decks

The angled flight deck provided a longer landing deck than on previous split deck carriers.  The longer landing deck was required to handle the higher weights and landing speeds of jet aircraft compared to propeller aircraft.  The angled flight deck also allowed for concurrent launch and recovery operations, and allowed aircraft failing to connect with the arrestor cables, to abort the landing, accelerate, and relaunch without risk to other parked or launching aircraft.  The redesign allowed for several other design and operational modifications, including the mounting of a larger island (improving both ship-handling and flight control), drastically simplified aircraft recovery and deck movement (aircraft now launched from the bow and landed on the angled flight deck, leaving a large open area amidships for arming and fueling), and damage control.

 

The angled flight deck was required to handle jet aircraft and provided several operational advantages.

Steam Catapult.  Beneficial to launching heavier jet aircraft, the modern steam catapult, powered by steam from the ship's boilers or reactors, was invented by Commander C.C. Mitchell of the Royal Naval Reserve.  It was widely adopted following trials on HMS Perseus between 1950 and 1952, which showed it to be more powerful and reliable than the hydraulic catapults which had been introduced in the 1940s.  Steam catapults soon began to be added to American carriers, the first was the USS Hancock (CV-19) during a refit, in the mid-1950s.

Optical Landing System.  The Optical landing system was invented in 1951 by British naval officer Nicholas Goodhart, and developed to facilitate the very precise landing angles required by jet aircraft, which have a fast-landing speed, giving little time to correct mistakes.  The system greatly increased the safety when landing on an aircraft carrier.  The first system was fitted to England’s HMS Illustrious in 1952 and U.S. carriers followed beginning in 1955.

Nuclear Age.  Nuclear weapons became part of the aircraft carrier weapons load beginning in 1950 aboard USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42) and continuing in 1955 aboard USS Forrestal (CV-59).  By the end of the 1950s, the Navy had a series of nuclear-armed attack aircraft.

The U.S. Navy also built the first aircraft carrier to be powered by nuclear reactors.  USS Enterprise (CVN-65) was powered by eight nuclear reactors and was the second surface warship, after USS Long Beach, with nuclear propulsion.  Subsequent nuclear supercarriers, starting with USS Nimitz (CVN-68), needed only two reactors.

Nuclear power revolutionized carrier design, allowing even bigger ships to be built that could carry more aircraft, fuel, and weapons, and the carrier’s endurance was only limited by its crew - no longer needing to refuel at ports or by support ships.  

U.S. Carrier Conflicts Since World War II

There have been many military conflicts since World War II.  Here perhaps are the two most significant, that involved major, sustained activity for U.S. aircraft carriers:

Korean War (1950 - 1953).  The United Nations command began carrier operations against the North Korean Army on July 3, 1950, in response to the invasion of South Korea.  The initial aircraft carriers operating were USS Valley Forge and Britain’s HMS Triumph.  Before the armistice of July 27, 1953, 12 U.S. carriers served 27 tours in the Sea of Japan.  During periods of intensive air operations, as many as four carriers were operating at the same time.

Over 255,545 U.S. carrier sorties were flown during the Korean War.  United States Navy and Marine Corps carrier-based combat losses were 541 aircraft.

Vietnam War (1964 - 1973).  The United States Navy fought "the most protracted, bitter, and costly war” in the history of naval aviation from August 2, 1964 to August 15, 1973, in the waters of the South China Sea.  Carrier aircraft supported combat operations in South Vietnam and conducted bombing operations in conjunction with the U.S. Air Force in North Vietnam under Operations Flaming Dart, Rolling Thunder, and Linebacker.  The number of carriers on the line varied during differing points of the conflict, but as many as six operated at one time during Operation Linebacker.

Twenty-one aircraft carriers, all of the attack carriers operational during the era, except John F. Kennedy, deployed to Task Force 77 of the US Seventh Fleet, conducting 86 war cruises and operating 9,178 total days on the line in the Gulf of Tonkin.  Five hundred and thirty aircraft were lost in combat and 329 more in operational accidents, causing the deaths of 377 naval aviators, with 64 others reported missing and 179 captured.

U.S. carrier-based aircraft also provided strike operation support in these conflicts:

Bosnia (1994 - 1995).  During the Bosnian civil war, which began shortly after the country declared independence in 1992, the U.S. launched carrier air strikes on Bosnia to prevent ethnic cleansing.

Kosovo (1999).  A U.S.-led NATO force intervened with air strikes after Slobodan Milosevic's Serbian forces uprooted the population and embarked on a plan of ethnic cleansing of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian population.

Persian Gulf War (January 17, 1991 to February 28, 1991).  Operation Desert Storm coalition efforts against Iraq, in response to the Iraqi invasion and annexation of Kuwait.

War in Afghanistan (2001 - 2021).  Operation Enduring Freedom to combat terrorism following the attack on the United States on September 11, 2001.

Iraq War (2003-2011).   Coalition invaded and overthrew repressive Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein, believing that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and posed a threat.  Subsequent insurgencies prolonged the war.

War against the militant Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (2014 - present).  Continuing war on terrorism.

The aircraft carrier remains the answer to one of the most difficult questions for any navy:  How to project power by sea.

Conclusions

Summary - Aircraft Carrier Development.  A timeline of U.S. aircraft carrier development, from USS Langley (CV-1) to USS Gerald R. Ford (CV-78), is shown below, listed in order of hull number.  Ships with hull numbers 35, 44, 46, and 50-58 were cancelled or never commissioned, and are not shown. 

You can examine the timeline by increasing the display magnification on your reading device, or if that proves too cumbersome, use the link below to the online article.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_aircraft_carriers_of_the_United_States_Navy

 

Timeline of U.S. aircraft carrier development.

 

From the timeline, we can see that there are 11 nuclear aircraft carriers currently active in the U.S. Naval fleet: all 10 Nimitz class carriers (CVN-68 thru CVN-77) and the Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), scheduled for its first deployment in 2022.  Two future Ford class carriers, USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) and USS Enterprise (CVN-80) are in development.  Five historic aircraft carriers have been preserved as museum ships: USS Yorktown (CV-10) in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina; USS Intrepid (CV-11) in New York City; USS Hornet (CV-12) in Alameda, California; USS Lexington (CV-16) in Corpus Christi, Texas; and USS Midway (CV-41) in San Diego, California.

It has been 100 years since USS Langley (CV-1) was commissioned; thus, this year is the 100^th anniversary of American carrier aviation.  As my son John says, “Sort of a big deal for those of us who wear wings.”  John also reminds me that today's “CVNs can move more than 700 miles in one day or 5,000 miles in one week.

No. of Aircraft/Crew/Cost.  Today’s aircraft carriers can accommodate 85-90 aircraft of different types.  A typical air wing can include:

·         24-36 F/A-18E or F Super Hornets as strike fighters

·         two squadrons of 10-12 F/A-18C Hornets, with one of these often provided by the U.S.   Marine Corps, also as strike fighters

·         4-6 EA-18G Growlers for electronic warfare

·         4-6 E-2C or D Hawkeyes for airborne early warning

·         a Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron of 6-8 SH-60F and HH-60H Seahawks.

Total crew size on today’s carriers is 5,000 - 6,000, including the air wing, depending on loadout.

Aircraft carriers are expensive!  The cost to build the last Nimitz-class carrier, the USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) was $6.2B.  The cost so far to build the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) is $13.3B.

Future Aircraft Carriers.  The last Nimitz-class aircraft carrier is scheduled for decommissioning in 2058.  Ten Ford-class aircraft carriers are planned for the future U.S. Navy.  In addition to the USS Gerald R. Ford and the two other Ford-class ships currently in development, a fourth carrier has been budgeted, USS Doris Miller (CVN-81).

In the future, the active Nimitz-class and Ford-class carriers will have to contend with challenging threats, such as ground- and air-launched, long-range hypersonic missiles, and someday, perhaps, aircraft- or space-based directed energy weapons.  For the aircraft carrier and it power-projection mission to remain viable, aircraft carriers must be fitted with adequate defensive systems.