Carrier groups need to generate useful sorties while remaining far enough away to survive. Operations over Afghanistan and Iraq did not expose the full problem because hostile forces could not seriously reach the carriers, allowing shorter-range aircraft and buddy refueling to suffice. A contested maritime theater restores the relationship between aircraft radius and carrier survivability. Long-range drones can help move useful payloads outward without forcing the ship itself closer to danger.
Notable Point · 33:17-34:16
Drones as a route back to carrier strike range
Long-range uncrewed aircraft address a problem masked by recent wars in which carriers could operate close to opponents unable to threaten them.