Pundits maintain that concentrating significant combat power in a single 90,000-odd ton supercarrier makes it too big and expensive to fail. The concept of ‘distributed’ operations is the zeitgeist of present-day American naval discourse. Various commentators aver that the US Navy should focus on smaller (read cheaper and more numerous) flat-tops to hedge against the A2/AD threat. To this end, the idea of the ‘Lightning carrier’ was birthed. Simply put, this is about Wasp- and America-class amphibious assault ships deploying a full complement of some 20 F-35B Lightning short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) fighters to function as a small-deck/light carrier. So let’s make a comparison between the ‘Lightning carrier’ and its larger brethren of the Nimitz- and Ford-classes.
The starkest difference between the two types of carriers is their fighter complements. A supercarrier typically deploys with over 40 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets (and in the future F-35Cs), which is twice that of the smaller carrier.
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