ABSTRACT
Secretary of the Navy John Lehman will probably say that we already have the 600-ship navy, and that we already have 15 carriers. It was only natural that the Navy would be seduced into a conventional bombing contest with the Air Force during the Southeast Asia conflict. As soon as an airfield can be constructed within a beach salient, Navy sea-based air should be replaced by Marine Corps, allied, or Air Force land-based air. Until the Navy embarks on the development and acquisition of small aircraft, the argument is irrelevant. If the Navy should reverse itself and embrace small aircraft, the big carrier might look even more attractive because of the possibility of doubling the number of aircraft aboard, which could more than double force effectiveness. Navy battle force commanders should not have to depend on illusive contracts with outside agencies for surveillance during periods of tension and combat if there are ways and means of providing an organic capability.
