The entire model of sea-borne power projection has changed. What does it mean when hypersonic missiles can be fitted with optical sensors to autonomously target ships? It means carriers now are about as useful as battleships in WW2. Nobody knows who can dominate which parts of the world ocean anymore.
Drones are the next biggest thing in warfare. An autonomous drone fleet armed with ordnance is the next big thing. Having a 'carrier' that has thousands of drones is water and air superiority both.
And well, the USA is falling far behind in that area, along with many others.
For all practical purposes, except for US-PR/US-Hawaii Jones Act trade, the US has no merchant marine. It would be interesting if Trump restricted cargo offloading to US ships, absent a treaty with another nation. Other than the Navy, the US maritime culture has been lost. Other than the very limited Jones Act trade, we have port pilots, tugboat captains and recreational boating. That's not a recipe for "dominance at sea."
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[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 18.2 ms ] threadAnd well, the USA is falling far behind in that area, along with many others.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/the-united-states-is-...
And with current anti-intellectual, anti-foreigner, anti-technology trends, we won't be catching up in quite some time.