Capable reusable drones still need the support an aircraft carrier provides. As payload, fuel, range, and recoverability requirements grow, an uncrewed aircraft begins to demand much the same infrastructure as a crewed one. Disposable vertical-launch drones may suit some missions, but repeatedly using a capable air vehicle depends on recovery, maintenance, rearming, and refueling at sea. Removing the pilot changes the aircraft while leaving the need for a mobile naval air base intact.
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Why capable reusable drones still need carriers
The opening argument explains why larger, reusable naval drones still require ships able to launch, recover, refuel, rearm, and send them out again.