James Holmes

If new defensive and offensive technologies come to fruition, the aircraft carrier could resume its habitual functions as a capital ship, raider, and offshore airfield. If not, the carrier confronts a dour future.

In short, Secretary Del Toro has taken on an unenviable task: persuading Asian business leaders to invest in the U.S. shipbuilding complex to take on China at a time when domestic political headwinds are fierce. Profit, risk, time. Let’s wish him well.

Last week the Biden Pentagon submitted its budget request for fiscal year 2025. If executed as written, the request would shrink the U.S. armed forces at a time when grave dangers—and thus the demands on the armed forces—are surging around maritime Eurasia.

The USS New Jersey, an iconic Iowa-class dreadnought now serving as a museum ship, is making headlines as it undergoes a significant maintenance phase, including repainting and hull repairs, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

In the age of uncrewed vehicles and artificial intelligence, every ship of war could—and should—be an “aircraft carrier” of some type or another. The U.S. Navy just might be on to something.

Warfare in the Pacific between the U.S. and China promises to be an all-service, all-domain, and allied endeavor. Waging it will demand the utmost not just from naval forces but from fellow services that operate from dry earth.

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Every strategy, every operational design, every weapon system depends on assumptions. They have to. But Masters of the Air tacitly rebukes those who are too wedded to their assumptions. Better to cultivate a skeptical, scientific cast of mind and the mental dexterity that comes with it. The unexpected will happen in warfare. It’s crucial to hedge against it.

Zumwalt will be pushing ten years old once its hypersonic weapons are installed, assuming its current yard period wraps up on schedule. That’s a sizable share of its service life.

Even if the United States has fallen into decline in absolute economic and military terms, China may have crested early and plunged into yet steeper decline. In that case, the margin between the contestants would widen even if both countries were on the wane. If that’s how Xi Jinping & Co. size things up, they might order the People’s Liberation Army into action while China stands its best chance of success. There is ample precedent.