Is a destroyer-sized carrier with six aircraft and two helicopters a workable solution?
Short answerNo; it carries too few aircraft to justify the expensive systems and support infrastructure required for carrier operations.
NotesA sustainable minimum carrier group is closer to eighteen aircraft than six or eight. Catapults, recovery equipment, maintenance spaces, aviation fuel, magazines, and control systems remain necessary even for a tiny embarked force. Many of those costs do not fall in proportion to aircraft numbers, and the same problem persists for V/STOL ships. The result is a great deal of specialized ship for only one or two useful flights of aircraft.