Compelling, data inclusive article that is thought provoking to its core:
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/the-slow-death-of-the-carrier-air-wing-1796726088
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/the-slow-death-of-the-carrier-air-wing-1796726088
Not only have the individual numbers of the air wing been dramatically reduced, but the distance the aircraft can fly is nearly half of what it was in the final years of the Cold War. Yet for some reason, these large carriers are still being built and deployed without a full complement of aircraft.
that the days of deep-strike missions have been passed by as the Navy chose instead to focus on “lower maintenance costs and higher aircraft sortie rates” while nations such as “China and its pursuit of anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) strategies and capabilities
The size and power of the carrier air wing reached its pinnacle in the mid-1980’s when America’s Nimitz-class carriers went to sea with nearly 90 aircraft embarked. Nine squadrons made up the air wing then, and it was not unusual to see a carrier deploy with ten squadrons.