Merchant ships as distributed fighter bases

In the hypothetical Cold War fleet, large merchant ships could carry supersonic V/STOL fighters on simple landing pads with fuel and limited weapons support. A more elaborate containerised runway and hangar is considered, but a landing pad on a container ship or tanker is judged more realistic. These fighters would be difficult to integrate into the main carrier interception, so an air-defence destroyer within the convoy could control them as a local reserve. The fleet carrier could then commit its air wing against the main Backfire raid while the merchant-based fighters dealt with bombers or missiles that penetrated the outer defence. Common aircraft would allow fighters needing attention to return to the fleet carrier for servicing. The reserve would also provide some combat air patrol while the main force recovered after its interception.