US Navy Super Carriers - Tools or Toys?

 



I just read in a Newsweek article about China's new anti-ship ballistic missile. And there is a debate brewing over the cost of America's super carriers which sit at $13 billion each. The Navy wants three more this year which all together is roughly the cost of Russia's 2015 military budget.

Two issues I would like people to consider. First in reading the article our military says that if they had any fears of one of our carriers being disabled or destroyed they would not deploy it. Reasoning is that carriers are such a symbol of our national power that to lose one would be a disaster.

Another problem to consider is that aircraft carriers are becoming obsolete. The Navy denies this. However think back to World War II when the Navy denied Battleships becoming obsolete. It took Pearl Harbor and the destruction of most of our battlewagons by aircraft to change their minds.

Now China has developed a missile to destroy our carriers. Read about it in this Newsweek article.
 http://www.newsweek.com/china-dongfeng-21d-missile-us-aircraft-carrier-427063

Policy makers really should consider the fact that when you hold true to a weapon too long, your enemy will learn to counter it. Perhaps we need to changed our tactics with carriers?

Also if you have multi-billions of dollars invested into military assets that you won't risk losing, they are no longer tools, but toys. If this really is the attitude of the Navy, we should seriously consider an alternative to building super carriers.