The immense carrier needed to operate a C-17

How large would an aircraft carrier need to be to operate a C-17 Globemaster III?

A rough comparison suggests a 550 to 600 metre ship with arresting gear, a much longer catapult, and far more landing distance than a Ford-class carrier.

The rough calculation starts with C-17 takeoff runs of about 914 metres at a light weight and roughly 2,500 metres at maximum takeoff weight. Carrier operation would therefore depend on arresting gear and a catapult that accelerates the large airframe gradually. The comparison initially considers the Hawkeye, then turns to the Viking because it also uses jet engines. The resulting live estimate makes the catapult roughly fifty percent longer than the system on a Gerald R. Ford-class carrier. Landing and deck-handling space push the hypothetical ship toward 550 to 600 metres in length, compared with roughly 330 to 340 metres for a Ford. The calculation is an order-of-magnitude comparison, with uncertainty in the remembered Ford dimensions carrying through to the larger estimate. Its scale also raises the practical question of why a navy would need a C-17 at sea.