A few comments.
1: calling them tiny is just wrong. The Tripoli is over 800 feet long, 100 feet wide. It is not as big as a modern CV, but bigger than most other ships.
This is very true. The America class Amphibious Assault ships are almost the same size as the Essex class carriers of WWII. And have roughly the same displacement as a Midway class "Battle Carrier".
And this is hardly new, simply a rehashing of the old "Escort Carrier" concept.
2: The aircraft are out of Yuma. Even being at sea is better than being at Yuma. I thankfully only spent a week there, but it was a long, hot week spent mostly watching jackrabbits run out by the flightline.
Been there, done that, and I largely agree. Even Fort Bliss was better than MCAS Yuma, and that is saying something.
3: Your source says "Meanwhile, VMFA-225 is the latest squadron to transition to the F-35B from the
F/A-18D Hornet". Now that is a major transition, from aging, 20 + year old aircraft to cutting edge.
This I admit puzzles me. Transitioning Hornet pilots to the B series is a head scratcher. As these would be pilots already experienced in CATOBAR operations, I would think transitioning to the C class would make a lot more sense. And moving the old Harrier pilots to the B class. Moving an entire squadron away from Carrier duty and onto amphibs really does make little sense. Unless the unit is scheduled to transition to both B and C class, so they could do both.
4: Also from your source: "Another thing is that the deck sequence with a large number of airplanes has yet to be tested. We currently recover aircraft on spot seven and nine in the rear of the boat but there is potential, just like we learned with the Harrier, that we need to have a forward and aft landing spot in order to recover and push airplanes to their forward and aft parking spots simultaneously." That is going to be the trick, just from looking at the pictures. Not alot of room(relatively), so you need skilled aircraft handlers(ABs, or yellow shirts) to make things work, and a highly skilled airboss.
5: This all strikes me as a great idea. Power projection is the point of the navy/marines, and 20 F35s that can be forward deployed will help alot.
And once again, this is an old concept. Even back when the Amphibious Assault Ships still had well decks, there was a thought that they would ditch most of their Marines and equipment, and act as "Command Centers" for an amphibious landing. With an increased number of fighters and taking on more of a "baby carrier" role. Hell, even the British played with it during the Falkland's War, converting some container ships into carriers. But I can not see the America class or any other Amphibious ships being any real good at Carrier roles. In essence, they would do the job about as well as those "Chinese Carriers" that has so many crapping bananas.
Barely enough deck space and capability to provide much more than a CAP over themselves. And that is the role of their air wing, a minimal CAP at sea, then transitioning to Air to Mud during amphibious operations when most times there will be carrier (or shore based) aircraft on hand to provide the CAP requirements.
Oh, and skimming through many of the articles of Tyler Rogoway largely left me laughing. UFOs, "ghost ships", black helicopters and suicide drones crashing into passenger aircraft. Over half of it seems to be "loony bin" nonsense, and most of the rest is hyping something that is not even a thing. I am just surprised he did not push that these are going to be used for future drone operations, with our super-secret autonomous drones.
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