The design draws a firm boundary between extensive rotary-wing and uncrewed aviation facilities and a crewed fixed-wing air group. Supporting larger fixed-wing aircraft requires more than deck area; it brings specialized workshops, maintenance capacity, stores, personnel, and sustained flight operations. Those demands quickly take over the ship and shift its purpose toward that of an aircraft carrier. Australia's removal of fixed-wing capability from the Canberra class shows why a navy might avoid the burden even if it later reconsiders the choice. The battleship concept should therefore retain helicopters and uncrewed aircraft without drifting into an inefficient battlecarrier.
Notable Point · 1:29:24-1:31:14
Fixed-wing aviation would turn the battleship into a carrier
A large flight deck is not enough: workshops, maintenance, stores, and personnel for crewed fixed-wing aircraft would consume the ship's design unless aviation became its primary mission.