U.S. Navy’s carriers costly relics of the past? [View all]

[AsahinaKimi]

Ghost ship?: The USS Enterprise sails in the Strait of Gibraltar in October 2012. The Enterprise, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was decommissioned on Dec. 1. | AFP-JIJI

WASHINGTON – Budget pressures at the Pentagon have renewed a debate about the value of the U.S. Navy’s giant aircraft carriers, with critics arguing the warships are fast becoming costly relics in a new era of warfare.

With the Pentagon facing $500 billion in cuts over the next decade, a navy officer has dared to question the most treasured vessels in his service’s fleet, saying the supercarriers are increasingly vulnerable to new weapons and too expensive to operate.

“After 100 years, the carrier is rapidly approaching the end of its useful strategic life,” wrote Capt. Henry Hendrix in a report published in March by the Center for a New American Security.

Changes in naval warfare mean that carriers “may not be able to move close enough to targets to operate effectively or survive in an era of satellite imagery and long-range precision strike missiles,” Hendrix wrote.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/04/02/world/u-s-navys-carriers-costly-relics-of-the-past/#.UVmoHzeDo5h