Power projection with fewer hulls

A carrier task group could defend and affect a much larger area than the same number of escorts operating without aviation. Aircraft extended surveillance, interception, and strike far beyond the horizon of the ships themselves. That reach offered one answer to shrinking hull numbers because reproducing it with dispersed cruisers, destroyers, or frigates would require many more vessels. The Belize example shows how even a pair of Buccaneers could communicate capability and alter another state's calculation without a naval battle. Carrier power projection therefore included coercive presence as well as the ability to deliver weapons.