The criteria for assessing the state’s military power are changing, but the country's availability of a combat-ready navy invariably remains one of them. For centuries, the aircraft carrier has been a symbol of the "big baton", which can be struck even across the ocean. The world's largest ship of this type is in service with the US Navy. Rather, there are ten of them, of the same type. The series was launched by Nimitz.
Series "Nimitz"
Despite the general idea of the initial project, ships of the same series can differ significantly depending on the year of launching. Nevertheless, the main parameters, namely displacement (102 thousand tons), the composition of the wing (about 70 units), the number of crews (up to 6 thousand people), the power plant capacity (280 thousand hp) and speed (up to 30 knots) for all ships of the Nimitz class are approximately the same. The series has ten ships, the last of them is named after US President George W. Bush, who served as a pilot in the war.
Such a huge amount of expensive metal, which has been given warlike forms, makes a huge impression. However, it should be borne in mind that the purpose of this armada is the ability to concentrate aviation forces near the coasts of states whose armies are not able to provide serious opposition.
Enterprise
At the end of 2012, another aircraft carrier was withdrawn from combat duty, the largest in the world, at least in length. The Enterprise had a displacement slightly less than the Nimitz (93.4 thousand tons), but a higher speed (34 knots). On his deck and in the below-deck hangar there could be up to 90 aircraft. He served in the U.S. Navy for more than half a century, took an active part in the Vietnam War and even suffered losses, though not as a result of the combat actions of the enemy anti-ship systems, but because of operational violations that caused an accidental launch of an aircraft missile, explosion and spill of burning kerosene.
North Vietnam at the end of the sixties did not have the opportunity to strike at large sea targets, but if such a task became urgent, there is no doubt that the Soviet Union would be able to supply its regional ally with the appropriate types of weapons with which it would be possible to sink even the largest aircraft carrier. The United States made the bulk of the air raids, raising bombers from ground bases.
To the big ship - a big torpedo!
In Belyaev’s famous science fiction novel (about a hyperboloid), there is a scene of the destruction of a large squadron by engineer Garin. Tycoon Rolling is shocked at the death of what he still considered the personification of military power. He does not understand how this could happen. About the same emotions were experienced by the Americans, learning about the "Black Thursday" during the Korean War. Then the B-29 bombers, most recently symbolizing the invincibility of the US Air Force, were powerless to withstand a flock of small, fast and brisk MiGs that appeared as if from nowhere and hid nowhere, leaving only smoky traces of "flying fortresses" falling from the sky.
How effective will an aircraft carrier become in the 21st century? The largest ship in the world can be brought to the coast of the country, for some reason refusing to follow the political course pleasing to America and scare the people living in it. But if the army of this state has several Iskander complexes, will the aircraft-carrying group not suffer the sad fate of the “flying fortresses” in the Korean sky? And is the military doctrine of the "big club" not obsolete?
The fate of aircraft carriers in Russia
Perhaps there are reasons why we are not even trying to build the largest aircraft carrier. In Russia, when protecting their own interests, they most often act asymmetrically. Recent events in the Black Sea, in particular, have demonstrated the ability of our aircraft (obviously, not only them) to remotely disable enemy air defense using compact and inexpensive (compared to a ship) electronic countermeasures. You do not need to be a science fiction writer to imagine the consequences of such an impact on a large aircraft carrier group. Any aircraft carrier, the largest in the world, the most modern and powerful, not having the ability to repel an attack from the air, will simply turn into a large target on which any, even not the most modern, aircraft will work out with impunity.
It is precisely because of the uselessness that the domestic “Admiral Kuznetsov”, built back in the USSR, is likely to remain alone. It is really too expensive, uneconomical, and in combat conditions may not be very effective. Russia has other, more economical and effective ways to deal with aircraft carrier formations.