Why a submarine drone strike still needs carrier-scale support

Could submarines replace carriers by launching forty-aircraft drone strikes?

Not easily: the submarine would need to be very large, protect and sustain the drones, and move quickly once launch exposed its position.

A submarine large enough to launch a forty-aircraft drone strike would itself become large and harder to position covertly. Each drone would need enough endurance for the mission and packaging that protects it through saltwater carriage and launch. Firing the air group would reveal a location from which the submarine would need to move immediately. The exchange shows why removing pilots does not remove the basing, launch, and survivability problems that carriers solve openly at sea.