Aircraft carrier is called "sea airport", its key feature and greatest advantage lies in the fighter planes it carries, and it can be delivered from a long distance. As we all know, air superiority is crucial to the success or failure of modern warfare, and aircraft has overwhelming advantages over ships, submarines and land military and civilian units. The aircraft on the aircraft carrier can provide early warning and protection for the fleet, fight against enemy fighters, suppress and destroy other ships, and also provide the ability to air strike inland across the ocean.
The addition of the aircraft carrier has greatly lengthened the operational radius of the army and expanded the strike effect. Because the aircraft taking off from the aircraft carrier can take turns to attack, in theory, it can be used to attack a land that can fly indefinitely. Aircraft carriers can also be used as deterrent weapons. Because for the distance without an aircraft carrier, its deterrent to countries with aircraft carriers is almost zero.
The aircraft carrier established its position in modern warfare in World War II. 194 1 the Japanese aircraft carrier's attack on the American naval base at pearl harbor was regarded as a landmark event, and the "ship-gun doctrine" officially ended in modern times. However, at the end of World War II, the status of aircraft carriers was impacted by the appearance of nuclear weapons. This was marked by 1945 when the United States bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan with B-29 bombers and two atomic bombs.
Therefore, during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, the United States, which made great strides in using aircraft carriers and nuclear weapons, had a huge controversy over which was more important, the aircraft carrier or the strategic bomber. After all, when long-range bombers can throw powerful nuclear weapons, expensive aircraft carriers are not cost-effective. Therefore, the construction of American aircraft carriers was once in a depression. It was not until the Korean War broke out in 1950 that the American aircraft carrier quickly grasped the air superiority, suppressed the fire, and entered the ranks of jet carrier aircraft, which made the aircraft carrier re-valued.
However, after entering the 1980s, the operational capability of aircraft carriers was once again questioned. The reason is that the former Soviet navy changed its thinking of attacking ships with military aircraft, strengthened the strike capability of anti-ship missiles, and launched a large number of anti-ship missiles with submarines, military aircraft and surface ships to carry out saturation attacks, which was enough to break through the protection network of ships and fighters in the aircraft carrier formation.
To this end, American aircraft carriers or formation ships are equipped with anti-aircraft missiles, close-range weapons and electronic warfare equipment to strengthen protection. The US military is also constantly upgrading the Aegis combat system. This is the world's first fully digital shipborne combat system, an integrated surface warship combat system, and a system with decision-making auxiliary function. In addition, other countries have made reference to and developed similar combat systems, such as the Aegis ship of the China Navy and the Type 45 destroyer of the Royal Navy.
Although the Aegis combat system has excellent performance according to the experimental data published by the United States, its air defense missile function has never been applied to actual combat. Aegis ships have been found in the Persian Gulf War, the Iraq War and the recent American foreign wars, but most of them are used as launching platforms for reconnaissance and Tomahawk cruise missiles. Moreover,1On July 3rd, 1988, the US Navy Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser "Vincens" accidentally hit iran air Flight 655 while exchanging fire with Iran, causing 290 civilian deaths, which cast a shadow over the reliability of the Aegis system.
Aircraft carrier is an offensive weapon that can carry out long-range strikes. However, due to the concentration of a large number of ships, military aircraft and combatants, it is already an out-and-out army. If you deter or fight for a long time in a certain place, you will be targeted by the other side and regard it as a moving target. You must get rid of it quickly. The greater the deterrence and reusability of the aircraft carrier, the greater the defensive pressure it faces. So in the eyes of all parties to the war, the aircraft carrier gradually changed from spear to shield and was threatened by targeted weapons.