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Title: Aircraft carrier vs freighter, why did the "behemoth" lose in the eye-catching competition?
The aircraft carrier is the hegemon of the sea and the symbol of the country's maritime strategy. However, have you ever wondered why these "Big Macs" are always inferior to those "freighters"?Internationally, aircraft carriers are limited in size, and various constraints emerge one after another, so let's unveil the layers of this ship puzzle today.
First, let's review the behemoths. The Ford-class aircraft carrier, although militarily powerful, is not as large as an ordinary freighter. Why is that?It turned out that the speed requirements of the aircraft carrier were much higher than those of ordinary ships. Cargo ships, cruise ships and other livelihood vessels are mainly used for leisurely sea travel, and the demand for speed is not urgent. Aircraft carriers, on the other hand, need to carry out combat missions at sea and need to maintain a high speed of 28 to 30 knots, which is equivalent to a voyage of 52 to 55 kilometers per hour. This not only requires the strength of the hull, but also needs to maintain stability in the wind and waves to ensure the smooth take-off and landing of carrier-based aircraft.
However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. In a war at sea, the biggest enemy of an aircraft carrier is not the enemy's shells, but the "underwater assassin" submarines that hide underwater. In order to evade submarine attacks, aircraft carriers must maintain high speeds, which leads to a series of volume constraints. Huge bodies can be a precursor to disasters when they encounter extreme weather, such as strong winds and rains or typhoons. Just as in 2008, a Japanese-built giant cargo ship was broken in two in a force 7 wind, not to mention the aircraft carrier, if it is too large, it will face greater risks.
Not only that, but the construction of aircraft carriers is limited by materials. Carrier-based aircraft generate a lot of heat during take-off and landing, which requires the aircraft carrier deck to have high heat resistance, corrosion resistance, high hardness and other characteristics. However, this aircraft carrier special steel is so scarce and expensive that a country can produce less than 20% of its total production. If the size of the aircraft carrier increases, the demand for this special steel will increase exponentially, but the resources and production capacity in reality will be difficult to meet.
Taking into account river restrictions, for some narrow seas, such as the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal, there are clear requirements for the passage of vessels. If the aircraft carrier is too large, it will not be able to pass through these narrow waters, directly affecting its combat deployment and ability to respond to emergencies. Flexibility is required for sea navigation, and oversized aircraft carriers face more challenges when making turns and making emergency reversals.
Finally, the issue of cost has also become a key factor restricting the size of aircraft carriers. Building an aircraft carrier requires the coordination of multiple departments, hundreds of specialties and thousands of supporting manufacturers, and consumes a huge amount of resources and funds. On the premise that a country can build aircraft carriers, expanding the size of aircraft carriers will lead to higher construction and operating costs, making this giant ambition ultimately a distant dream.
Although in the evolution of technology and the development of history, people have tried to break through the limits of aircraft carrier size through various ways. Early attempts to convert freighters into aircraft carriers once brought hope for alleviating cost pressures. However, rapid advances in technology have made such alterations increasingly difficult. The idea of an ice aircraft carrier was a bold attempt at a huge ship, but the reality was cruel, and multiple factors such as temperature and environment eventually pushed this wonderful idea to the abyss of failure.
In general, the size limitation of aircraft carriers is not the result of a single factor, but a multi-faceted consideration. In order to take into account multiple factors such as speed, stability, safety, and economy, the development of aircraft carriers in terms of volume is facing great challenges. While attempts have been made to pursue larger aircraft carriers in various ways, it has been found that such a giant is not the only way to achieve maritime ambitions. Perhaps, one day in the future, the progress and innovation of science and technology can bring new possibilities for the volume breakthrough of aircraft carriers, but in the current reality, we still need to pursue the country's maritime glory in a more intelligent and pragmatic way under limited conditions.