"Second – aircraft carriers. Our current plan is to have eleven carrier strike groups through 2040 and it's in the budget. And to be sure, the need to project power across the oceans will never go away. But, consider the massive over-match the U.S. already enjoys. Consider, too, the growing anti-ship capabilities of adversaries. Do we really need eleven carrier strike groups for another 30 years when no other country has more than one? Any future plans must address these realities."
US Navy CNO Gary Roughead
http://www.defense.gov/speeches/speech.aspx?speechid=1460
For the record - we need more carriers, not less. Gates is wrong on this - the issue isn't comparing against the next biggest navies of the world, the issue is that most if not all Naval aviation is against land based targets, and the fact is you need a lot of platforms to launch from versus having to get approval from countries to fly over, around, or base your aircraft at their facility, and pay them. Read the posting from yesterday referencing the cost the Italians are charging for using their bases for the Libya campaign.
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