A carrier ban favours land-based air power and treaty loopholes

What if naval treaties banned aircraft carriers and allowed naval aircraft only for spotting?

Land-based air power gains a major advantage, while navies exploit the unstable definition of spotting aircraft and build hybrid battlecarriers or armed scouts around treaty loopholes.

A fleet without fighter cover becomes highly vulnerable near an enemy coast, giving states with suitable island and continental bases an enormous advantage. Restricting aircraft to scouting is hard to enforce because the same airframe can carry bombs, torpedoes, or guns with limited modification. Navies would design large surface ships with flight facilities and argue that aviation remained secondary to the gun battery. Fighters may also be justified as protection for reconnaissance aircraft. The prohibition would shape hull labels and doctrine, but the operational value of naval air power creates strong pressure to evade or abandon it.