Ships a Superpower type navy must have?

SSN, SSBN, plus whatever balance of drones and traditional USN-style fleet you care to fund. I wouldn't be surprised if in a generation we start to see <1K-ton naval drones, either.

Then again, there's always thinking outside the box and just blatantly weaponizing space.
 
To dominate the waves now a superpower needs to be able to

a) protect its own shipping, freedom of movement and trade

b) destroy any enemy fleet and trade and deny the enemy's movement, and



a) requires a significant force of escorts - ocean capable DDs and FFs and corvettes for shorter escort journeys. ASW is vital, from both the escorts and land-based aviation. Carriers make it easier, but I don't think they are essential for this any more, if you have long range strike aircraft (and now drones) with antishipping missiles and bases in the regions you want to control. However a fleet of minesweepers is required.

b) can be accomplished in different ways, but SSNs and land based aircraft are particularly good at this. Great big expensive cruisers and aircraft carriers are, again, not essential.

So in short you choose to control the oceans only as far as the range of your land-based air assets can go from your own territory - which means only a part of the Earth's oceans - or from allied bases - which depends upon allies who may change their minds five or ten years from now.

In other words, if you ask me, to dominate the oceans - no restrictions attached - you do need those big carriers.
 
Then again, there's always thinking outside the box and just blatantly weaponizing space.

Maybe. Costly and far away in time. And before that happens - especially if that seems bound to eventually happen - naval task forces will have Aegis-like ABM capabilities, just like cities.
You can still go for the brute force approach from orbit, overwhelming those defenses with either mass or numbers, but that would be beyond costly.
 

Ming777

Monthly Donor
Besides, the Canadians proved one could operate jet aircraft of a rebuilt WWII vintage CVL in weather that would make many others cringe.

*of course, it might also mean that the Canadians weren't exactly sane.:p
 
Besides, the Canadians proved one could operate jet aircraft of a rebuilt WWII vintage CVL in weather that would make many others cringe.

*of course, it might also mean that the Canadians weren't exactly sane.:p

** sanity is overrated anyways :p
 

jahenders

Banned
Carriers -- for force projection
Cruisers/Destroyers -- for smaller duties and to protect the carriers
ASW Ships -- to defeat/deter enemy subs
Attack subs -- to put enemy fleets and shipping at risk
Amphibious assault ships -- to be able to exert sustained influence

SSBNs are debatable -- they're valuable as part of a nuclear arsenal, but not necessarily part of "controlling the seas"

Various support and supply ships

Note that all of these ship types can evolve. For instance, while you currently need some pretty big carriers, in the future you might achieve similar effects with smaller carriers using lots of UCAVs
 
STOBAR is better than no deck at all, but that is the best that can be said for it. I was stunned when the RN changed the new QE class from cats to a ski jump. The reduction in capability (especially in AWACS/AEW arena, but also in at sea supply and personnel transfer) is enormous. Ten Billion dollar ship and it can't handle a Hawkeye or a Growler. Save 10% on cost and lose 40% of the capacity, don't quite get it.

I suspect the options were losing 60% capacity or losing 100%. I.e. the cost was so close to the edge that the increase would have killed the entire project.
 
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