Nuclear carriers are efficient when continuously deployed around the world, but their reactors, crews, and maintenance demands make them poor reserve ships. Admiral Elmo Zumwalt's medium-carrier and sea-control-ship proposals addressed this emerging fleet-management problem. A mixed force could retain aviation hulls that were cheaper to deactivate and later restore than nuclear supercarriers. Cost analysis belongs to the accountant, while ministers remain responsible for weighing cost against strategic value.
Notable Point · 27:20-28:56
Zumwalt's medium carriers and the reserve problem
Admiral Elmo Zumwalt's medium-carrier and sea-control-ship ideas are presented as attempts to preserve useful aviation capacity beyond an all-nuclear supercarrier fleet.