A carrier must coordinate fighters, strike aircraft, anti-submarine warfare, airborne early warning, and the supporting ships around them. That information flow makes it practical to embark an admiral and expand communications systems the ship already requires. Amphibious ships such as HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, along with American landing platform docks, provide a comparison through their extensive radios, command spaces, and flag facilities. Those facilities coordinate forces ashore and in the air as well as at sea. Combining different capabilities allows a smaller force to have a greater effect, provided its systems can work together.
Chapter · 13:10-16:48
The carrier as a command-and-control hub
Because air operations already concentrate information and communications aboard the carrier, it naturally becomes a headquarters for an integrated task group.