(Photo from Defence-Talk)(From foreground) USS Nimitz (CVN 68), USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6)
and USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) transit the Gulf of Oman.
From Strategy Page:
All of a sudden, six nations are building aircraft carriers (the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, India and China.) For over half a century, most of the carrier building took place in the United States. Russia built some, without much success, towards the end of the Cold War. Britain and France built a few, and several other nations (like India and Brazil), bought second had British carriers so they could maintain one or two in service.
But now six nations are planning or building new carriers, most of them a bit smaller (about 60,000 tons) than the larger U.S. ones (100,000 tons). Britain recently delayed construction, for a year or two, of its two new carriers, but is still determined to go ahead. France has a new one in the works, as does India. China has been cagey about its carrier plans, but all indications are that it is definitely headed that way. Russian admirals are speaking openly about building four or more additional carriers (Russia already has one of its last Cold War carriers refurbished and in service.) The current global economic recession is delaying, but not cancelling, some of these carrier building plans.
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