Aircraft carriers routinely serve through several generations of aircraft. Airframes can grow in size as propulsion, sensors, fuel, and weapons change, reducing how many fit in the same hangar and deck space. That risk is especially severe for smaller carriers with little unused volume. A larger hull may therefore be justified even when the first embarked group does not fill it, because the margin protects future mission capacity.
Notable Point · 39:00-40:47
Reserve hangar space for future aircraft generations
A carrier must preserve its minimum air-group capacity even as later generations of aircraft become larger and more demanding.