The trouble with tying your hands to such a short runway (even with a cat 'n' trap) is that you'll still be severely limited with what weapons you can get airborne
SuperHornet can get airborne from a carrier at it's max all up weight. It's the trap weight which is the limiting factor. I dont think the americans are disappointed with Superhornet even though it cant carry Stormshadow. Jehovah!
Big engine Harriers did not
on either take off or recovery from the deck.
Why it is do hard to understand that we need the flexibility that carrier aviation brings. No you can't launch a B1 from a carrier but there is the immediate response it provides. No you cant have the full range of effects from a carrier
alone and that is why it needs to be interleaved with land based power. We need the two new carriers so that we are not limited to waiting for 48 hours to launch a few stormshadows from 3000 miles away.