In this interpretation, the Soviet Union could not comfortably accept an American naval strike force operating within about a thousand nautical miles of its shores. One possible response would have been a fleet strong enough to keep those carriers farther away, giving CVA-58 consequences for Soviet naval development as well as American capability. The early Cold War problem is then linked to later reductions in carrier-air-wing range after the peer threat appeared to recede. When opponents can hold a carrier at distance, long-legged aircraft matter. Decades without that pressure can encourage shorter-range assumptions.
Notable Point · 15:03-16:37
Strike range as pressure on Soviet fleet development
A carrier able to threaten targets from far offshore could have pushed the Soviet Union toward a fleet capable of denying American operations near its coasts.