If the USN was interersted in building affordable ships then it would have done so, even the so called affordable ship project; LCS is gold plated and massively over budget.

Agreed and I am not personally a fan of the project…….

With the greatest of respect that is just your opinion, and let’s be honest this is just an exercise in Fantasy Fleets done for your own amusement without any actual real world need.

Clearly, I don’t see such a project happening. Yet, I do believe there is a need.

The truth of the matter is that the USN has a carrier fleet that is many, many times the size of the rest of the worlds combined, and unless there is some sort of escalation of rivalry with a peer then there is no need to reverse the reductions that have been made since the end of the Cold War.

The USN/USMC is the biggest in the world no doubt. Yet, even so many scenario it could still come up short.