Strike is the carrier air group's long-range attack function. Aircraft do not replace artillery where guns can cheaply sustain a high volume of fire, but they extend naval firepower far beyond that economical gun envelope. The continuity reaches back to the Royal Navy's 1917-18 planning for a carrier-based torpedo attack on the German fleet at Wilhelmshaven. The Sopwith Cuckoo and F-35 perform the mission with radically different technology, yet both turn the carrier into a mobile base for attacking distant targets.
Notable Point · 1:01:03-1:02:12
Carrier strike supplies mobile long-range firepower
From the Sopwith Cuckoo to the F-35, carrier strike gives a fleet long-range firepower beyond the economical reach of conventional naval guns.