Large carriers concentrate more usable air power

Carrier capability does not increase in a simple one-for-one relationship with displacement. For ships designed at the same time to the same standards, larger hulls can devote a smaller proportion of their space to machinery, leaving more room for aircraft and weapons. The comparison concerns the air group a ship can support and sustain in operations, including its sortie generation. In the illustrative 17,000-versus-27,000-ton matchup, several smaller carriers would have to be available in the same place to compete with the larger ship's usable air group. They would also have to coordinate multiple flight decks and commands against aircraft operating within a single organization. Displacement alone therefore gives an incomplete measure of the usable force a navy can assemble.