Rearming and maintenance make the carrier a mobile air base

Aircraft can be refueled in flight, but they cannot routinely receive new bombs, sensors, engines, or mission equipment while airborne. The USS Akron and USS Macon airship-carrier experiments had limited payloads and a difficult operating environment, which made them less practical than ships as mobile bases. A seagoing carrier supplies the deck, workshops, stores, and personnel needed to return both crewed and uncrewed aircraft to combat in a different configuration. Because a large carrier already needs extensive communications and information systems to control its air group, it also becomes a sensible command ship for the wider force.