Russia's coast-defence problem and why carriers persist

Russia faced a recurring coast-defence problem from the Crimean War through Western intervention in the Russian Civil War: a maritime power could choose landing points across a vast perimeter from Kamchatka to St Petersburg and Crimea. Battleships were tied to particular guns and armour systems, whereas carriers are defined by hangar capacity and the ability to support whatever aircraft the mission requires. Air-to-air refuelling can extend aircraft range, but it does not provide airborne rearming or maintenance. Bombs and missiles must still be replenished somewhere unless technology reaches a speculative ability to manufacture them in flight. Whether the aircraft are crewed or uncrewed, a naval force therefore still needs a platform that can sustain them near the operation. Carrier relevance turns on the recurring need to bring adaptable air support to threatened theatres.