Drone storage meets the cost of rebuilding carrier aviation

Small or crated drones might use overhead or otherwise inaccessible hangar spaces, echoing the Royal Navy's historical practice of carrying boxed Swordfish and Sea Gladiators as reserve aircraft. Yet physical fit is only part of the problem. After a break in fixed-wing carrier operations, the service must regenerate people, procedures, and learning around its crewed air group before it can rapidly absorb another major aviation change. Money and allied assistance cannot instantly recreate experience lost through a capability gap.