Our Navy, Our Destiny by George Will, Washington Post
… Henry J. Hendrix of the Center for a New American Security argues that, like the battleships that carriers were originally designed to support, carriers may now be too expensive and vulnerable. China has developed land-based anti-ship missiles to force carriers to operate so far from targets that manned aircraft might become less useful than unmanned combat aerial vehicles operating from smaller, less expensive carriers…
The bad news is that the U.S. entitlement state is devouring the federal budget. The good news might be this axiom: As money gets scarcer, people get smarter…
War-fighting calculations are not, however, the only pertinent considerations. The Navy remains the primary manifestation of America’s military presence in the world, and carriers are, beyond their versatility, an especially emphatic presence…