Aircraft-carriers take to the air
They may be safer and more effective there than at sea
AIRCRAFT-CARRIERS are juicy targets. They are also increasingly vulnerable ones. Like medieval castles in the age of the cannon, technological advance threatens to make them redundant. Satellites and over-the-horizon radars mean pinpointing their locations is easier. And a single well-aimed, well-armed missile may be enough to render a carrier useless, even if one shot does not sink it outright.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Blue-sky thinking”
From the March 27th 2021 edition
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