"The Pentagon's focus on developing a ‘jack of all trades, master of none' aircraft, while rival countries build technology capable of sinking American carriers, could make these expensive warships ineffective in the coming years," naval expert Jerry Hendrix of the Center for New American Security said, as cited by the CNN.
After the fall of the Soviet Union the US Navy had uncontested access to the world's oceans and that led to a belief that US Navy vessels and aircraft were invincible.
That's why over the past 20 years, the US military has been manufacturing short-range, light attack aircraft instead of more heavily-gunned and longer-range planes. Lighter planes that the US military was producing are able to take off faster from an aircraft carrier and are cheaper to produce.
The naval expert is especially worried about the development of a Chinese-made long-range aircraft carrier-killer missile that could soon become a serious headache for the US Navy.
"These missiles seek to take advantage of the United States' decision to cede range and the deep strike mission capability and push American ships and aircraft back beyond their operating ranges," Hendrix said.
Furthermore, after Russia launched cruise missiles at ISIL-targets in Syria from ships located on the Caspian Sea, it made US military experts aware of the full-capacity of the Russian Navy. US naval experts are now urged to review all of their naval plans to deal with this kind of new threat, former French intelligence Officer Alain Rodier said.
An aircraft carrier is a huge warship that essentially serves as an airbase in the ocean, equipped with facilities for carrying, arming and deploying various types of military aircraft. The US Navy currently has ten large nuclear-powered aircraft carriers that can transport and serve up to 90 aircraft each.
