The US Navy has put to sea the first-ever F-35 aircraft carrier — and it's a big warning to China...

Sometimes less IS more Bill...great post.

Commander, I would debate you on that. our Carrier Attack Groups have capabilities that the Amphibious Assault Groups cannot do. That is why we have both. The America Class and her type Capital ships cannot support the Hawkeye's and their specialized electronic warfare capabilities. The Hawkeye's abilities to interface with every AEGIS capable ship and expand their over the horizon view because of it's altitude makes the initial attack capabilities of the rest of the fleet second to none. The Initial strike capabilities of the FA-18's the capabilities of sending the EFA-18 Growlers aloft and jamming and confusing the enemy electronics, while thee FA-18 fighter cap protects everything aloft, plus the Hawkeye's advance warning lets the Fleet know if something slips by so all the Cruisers, Frigates and destroyers are ready to pick it out of the air like swatting a fly. A Gator is not large enough to handle 80 aircraft of the various styles. It is designed to put the Marines on the beach so they can do what they are Best at. Kick Ass and take names later! That is why the Navy - Marine Corps team works together so well.

Yes we need to address the capability gap with the lack of a AEW, They should look at modifying an Osprey for that mission. A system like the Boeing 737 AEW&C could be adapted. In many regions (like the Adriatic) you have Air Force coverage with their E-3 century. The F-35 does not need to jam as much because of its stealth but will have that capability in a bolt on addition just like the F-18. The USS America with 20 F-35B is more capable then 90% of the countries out there even without an AEW asset. I am not saying replace the carrier, they are the most capable platform in the world. We just don't have enough all studies say we need at least 12 fully operational and 15 would be a better number. The problem is that the Ford class is delayed and CR funding has hurt the Nimitz class RCOC, it is taking twice as long to turn those platforms around. I advocate full funding of those programs but that will only get us back to break even of 12 carriers and will take years to accomplish. You already have two America variants of the LHA just build a few more.