The Korean War demonstrated the fragility of plans built on fixed overseas air bases, which could be overrun or unavailable. The US Navy eventually developed the long-range strike capability CVA-58 represented even though this ship never entered service. One possible course would have involved only two or three CVA-58-type carriers before nuclear power and better aircraft allowed a single carrier design to combine fleet and strike roles. The proposed difference is timing, with a mature capability arriving roughly 15 to 20 years earlier and affecting choices in the 1950s and 1960s. The wider consequences remain uncertain because building the ships would have changed the circumstances in which other powers made their decisions.
Chapter · 22:49-24:58
Cancellation did not end the supercarrier idea
The US Navy eventually acquired the long-range strike capability represented by CVA-58; the counterfactual proposes that building the ship could have brought its maturity forward by 15 to 20 years.