Why are aircraft carriers still being considered very important? Why are China and India working hard to get them?
为什么航空母舰仍然被人们认为是很重要的装备？为什么中国和印度为了航母这么努力？
以下是Quora读者的评论：
Jitender Aggarwal, Qurious Quoran
I would call them Range extenders and that's the reason they are considered backbone of any Navy and termed as Force multipliers.
What is an Aircraft Carrier ?
At its most basic level, an aircraft carrier is simply a ship outfitted with a flight deck -- a runway area for launching and landing airplanes. This concept dates back almost as far as airplanes themselves. Within 10 years of the Wright Brothers' historic 1903 flight, the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany were launching test flights from platforms attached to cruisers. The experiments proved largely successful, and the various naval forces started adapting exsting warships for this purpose. The new carriers allowed military forces to transport short-range aircraft all over the world.
我把他们称为射程延伸器，所以他们被认为是所有海军的骨干力量，被称为力量倍增器。
什么是航空母舰?
从最基本的层面来说，航空母舰只是一艘军舰，配备了飞行甲板——即用于飞机起降的跑道区域。这个概念几乎可以追溯到飞机出现之初。莱特兄弟于1903年完成历史性的飞行后不到10年，美国、英国和德国就开始在连接在巡洋舰上的平台上进行试飞。在很大程度上实验被证明是成功的，不同的海军部队开始为这个目的调整现有的战舰。新的航空母舰能使军队在世界各地运输短程飞机。
Characteristics
While the ship itself isn't especially useful as a weapon, the air power it transports can make the difference between victory and defeat.
One of the major obstacles of using air power in war is getting the planes to their destination. To maintain an air base in a foreign region, Any nation has to make special arrangements with a host country, and then has to abide by that country's rules, which may change over time. Needless to say, this can be extremely difficult in some parts of the world.
特征
虽然航母本身并不是一种特别有用的武器，但它所输送的空中力量可以决定胜负。
在战争中空军的主要障碍之一是如何将飞机运送到目的地。如果要在外国地区设立空军基地，所有国家都必须对东道国作出特殊部署，必须遵守该国的规则，而这些规则可能会随着时间的推移而改变。更不用说，在世界的某些地方，这可能是极其困难的事。
Under International Freedom of Navigation laws, aircraft carriers and other warships are recognized as sovereign territories in almost all of the ocean. As long as a ship doesn't get too close to any nation's coast, the crew can carry on just like they're back home. So, while the Indian military would have to make special arrangements with a foreign nation to set up a land military base, it can freely move a carrier battle group (an assembly of an aircraft carrier and six to eight other warships) all over the globe, just as if it were a little piece of the India. Bombers, fighters and other aircraft can fly a variety of missions into enemy territory, and then return to the relatively safe home base of the carrier group. In most cases, the Navy can continually replenish (resupply) the carrier group, allowing it to maintain its position indefinitely.
根据国际航行自由法，航空母舰和其他军舰被视为海上领土。只要一艘船不要太过靠近任何国家的海岸，船员们就能像在自己国家一样继续航行。因此航空母舰战斗群可以自由移动(一艘航空母舰和其他六到八艘军舰)全世界。轰炸机、战斗机和其他飞机可以在敌占区执行各种任务，然后返回相对安全的航母舰群基地。在大多数情况下，海军可以不断地向航母战斗群提供补给，使其能够长期逗留在海上。
Their role at various points in History
1.Carriers didn't play a huge role in World War I, but they were central to the air combat of World War II. For example, the Japanese launched the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor from aircraft carriers.
2.During the Indo Pak 1971 war, India deployed INS Vikrant against Pakistan from its station in the Andaman Islands for operation against Pakistani forces in the East (present Bangladesh). Hawker Sea Hawks from the carrier successfully choked the Chittagong harbour and put it out of service.
3.During the 2003 invasion of Iraq U.S. aircraft carriers served as the primary base of American air power. Even without the ability to place significant numbers of aircraft in Middle Eastern airbases, the United States was capable of carrying out significant air attacks from carrier-based squadrons. Recently, U.S. aircraft carriers such as the Ronald Reagan provided air support for counter-insurgency operations in Iraq.
4.US Aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, was used for carrying out the operation to kill Osama-Bin-Laden.
他们在不同历史时期所扮演的角色
1.航空母舰在第一次世界大战中并没有发挥巨大的作用，但它们在第二次世界大战的空战中发挥了核心作用。例如，日本在1941年从航空母舰上对珍珠港发动了攻击。
2.1971年印巴战争期间，印度在安达曼群岛的驻地部署了维克兰特号，在东部(现在的孟加拉国)对巴基斯坦军队采取行动。这艘航空母舰上的“鹰”号海鹰成功地封锁了了吉大港，使其无法使用。
3.在2003年入侵伊拉克期间，美国航空母舰是美国空军的主要基地。即使美国无法在中东空军基地部署大量飞机，美国也有能力从航母舰队上发动大规模空袭。最近，美国罗纳德•里根等航空母舰为伊拉克的反叛乱行动提供了空中支持。
4.美国航空母舰卡尔文森号执行了绞杀奥萨马本拉登的行动。
Balaji Viswanathan
Aircraft carriers help project power and essential for "blue water" capabilities [essentially able to fight war anywhere on earth]. Fighter and Bomber planes have limited range and have to refuel somewhere. The aircraft carrier makes it possible to have the refueling very close to the target attack & thereby enabling the planes to quickly come back to the base and go for multiple attacks.
It takes a large cache of planes and helicopters than can then attack any land within a few hundred miles of a waterbody. For instance, if US wants to attack New Zealand for some reason, it will primarily rely on its aircraft carrier to carry its bombers and fighter planes to the Tasman sea from where the target will be overwhelmed.
译文来源：三泰虎 https://www.santaihu.com/47968.html 译者：Joyceliu
航空母舰有助于展现实力，对“深海”作战能力来说(基本上能够在地球上任何地方作战)至关重要。战斗机和轰炸机的航程有限，必须在中途有地方加油。航空母舰使得飞机在接近攻击目标的地方加油成为可能，因此使飞机能够快速返回基地并进行多次攻击。
它能搭载大量的飞机和直升机，这样才能攻击距离海面几百英里以内的陆地。例如，如果美国出于某种原因想要攻击新西兰，它就需要依赖航空母舰将轰炸机和战斗机运送到塔斯曼海，从那里攻击目标。
The USS Nimitz class supercarriers can run at 55 km/h and able to run without refueling for 20 years [powered by nuclear reactors]. It can carry 6000 soldiers, 90 planes besides numerous missiles like the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile that can blow up most incoming missiles & other flying bodies. All, but a handful of nations, will fold fighting just this one carrier.
The aircraft carrier is like your military base floating on the world's oceans ready to take on any nation. These can also be used for defensive purposes by escorting merchant navies or providing support to your ground troops fighting on the land.
美国尼米兹级超级航母可以以55公里/小时的速度运行，而且20年内无需添加燃料(由核反应堆提供动力)。它能运载6000名士兵，90架飞机，此外还有许多导弹，如RIM-116滚转机身导弹，可以用来炸毁大多数来袭导弹和其他飞行物体。除了少数国家，所有国家遇到这艘航母，都只能束手就擒。
航空母舰就像漂浮在世界大洋上的军事基地，随时可以攻击任何国家。航母也可以用于防御，护送商船或为陆地作战部队提供支持。
Regarding missile attacks, aircraft carriers are heavily protected by the surrounding ships and will use a combination of anti-missiles to deflect or destroy an incoming missile.
Don't underestimate a nuclear carrier.
关于导弹攻击，航空母舰受到周围战舰的严密保护，并将使用一系列反导弹来偏转或摧毁来袭导弹。
不要低估核动力航母。
Onkar Thakur, Armchair Defence Analyst
Balaji Viswanathan has already covered the strategic advantages of having an aircraft carrier so I would concentrate on the other aspect of your question - wouldn't one missile to its hull destroy it?
Most people have a misconception about aircraft carriers. When they hear that X nation has moved its aircraft carrier to Y location, the image that comes to their mind is this
Balaji Viswanathan已经介绍了航空母舰的战略优势，所以我将集中讨论此问题的另一个方面——若一枚导弹击中航母外壳，会不会摧毁航母？
大多数人对航空母舰有误解。当他们听说X国已经将航空母舰驶往Y国时，脑海中浮现的画面是这样的
But the reality is completely different. What they are actually dealing with is an armada, a carrier battle group.
但现实是完全不同的。航母出行总是以舰队，航母战斗群的形式出现。
Aircraft carriers do not operate alone, they operate in unison with a no of auxliary vessels. A carrier battle group generally consists of an aircraft carrier in the center and is surrounded by 5-10 support vessels like destroyers, frigates, minesweepers, etc. A fleet tanker is also provided in order to extend the range of the flotilla.
航空母舰不是单独行动的，它们与若干辅助船只协同行动。航母战斗群一般由一艘航空母舰，驱逐舰、护卫舰、扫雷舰等5-10艘支援舰包围组成。一般还会配备一艘舰队油轮，以扩展船队的航程范围。
Add to that, squadrons of fighter jets and attack helicopters operating from the deck of the vessels. Also most navies send their submarines to trail the flotilla. And not to forget, all these ships are equipped with state of the art anti-aircraft guns, anti-ship missiles and cruise missiles for ground attack.
So basically, if you try to attack via the aerial route, the AAA guns and fighter aircraft will take care of you. For surface attack, you have to deal with the attack crafts and the bombers operating from the deck of the carrier. As far as submarines are concerned, every ship is equipped with depth charges and the flotilla generally consists of a submarine too, so the chances of sneaking in quietly and attacking the carrier in next to nil.
Plus aircraft carriers and other ships are also equipped with anti-ship carrier missiles, so the risk of damage from anti-ship missiles is also nullified. If you still think that you can get past all these defences and strike the carrier, well, then
此外，战斗机中队和攻击直升机在舰艇甲板上执行任务。此外，大多数海军都派出潜艇跟踪这支舰队。不要忘记，所有这些舰艇都配备了最先进的高射炮、反舰导弹和巡航导弹，可用于地面攻击。
所以基本上，如果你试图通过空中进攻，AAA炮和战斗机随时等着你。如果通过水下攻击，你必须对付攻击艇和在航母甲板上操作的轰炸机。就潜艇而言，每艘船都配备了深水炸弹，而舰队通常也包含一艘潜艇，所以悄悄逼近并攻击航母的成功率几乎为零。
此外，航空母舰等舰船也装备了反舰导弹，因此反舰导弹的威胁也不存在了。如果你仍然认为你可以避开所有防御装备，攻击航母，呃，呵呵哒。
Jay Arron, I publish strategy games
Countries with island territories generally need an aircraft carrier for the following reasons:
1) In the event of a disaster, a carrier is like a floating city that can be parked right off shore. Being able to launch lots of helicopters is critical if rescuers and relief supplies cannot reach citizens by road. It is true that you can fly in relief supplies. However, these supplies will be stuck at the airport for days if roads are blocked or gasoline is in short supply. It will take over a week to airlift in the personnel and equipment to mount a major relief effort. At top speed, a carrier can cover 500 miles in a day, so it can be on site within 24 hours. Upon arrival, its helicopters will be ready to ferry the wounded to a fully staffed and functional hospital. The helicopters can also move relief supplies from transport ships to isolated parts of the mainland. You really cannot beat a carrier for disaster response.
2) Carrier based aircraft are necessary to protect an invasion fleet and provide close air support, should the country wish to liberate an island from a hostile invader. The UK could not have taken back the Falklands without its carriers.
拥有岛屿的国家一般需要一艘航空母舰，理由如下：
1)发生灾难时，航空母舰就像一座漂浮的城市，可以停在海上。如果救援人员和救援物资无法通过陆路到达公民手中，那么能够起飞大量直升机是至关重要的。飞机可以空运救灾物资。但如果道路堵塞或汽油供应不足，这些物资将在机场滞留数日。空运人员和设备以展开大规模救援工作需要一个多星期的时间。航空母舰以最高时速行驶的话，一天可以前进500英里，所以可以在24小时内到达现场。抵达后，航母上的直升机可以将伤员运送到一所人员配备齐全、功能齐全的医院。直升机还可以将救援物资从运输船运送到大陆的偏远地区。在应对灾难时，航母的作用无人能敌。
2)如果一个国家希望将一个岛屿从敌对入侵者手中解放出来，航母上的战斗机是保护入侵舰队和提供近距离空中支援所必需的。没有航母，英国不可能夺回福克兰群岛。
India's Andaman Islands are quite far from the Indian mainland and occupy a strategically important position in the Indian Ocean. For these reasons, carriers have always been, and will continue to be a critical part of India's navy.
印度安达曼群岛远离印度本土，在印度洋上占有重要战略地位。由于这些原因，航空母舰一直是，并将继续作为印度海军的重要组成部分。
Dan Rosenthal, OIF I/II vet, Infantry/RSTA. Many would; fewer could; I did.
It's the only way to project force over a long distance. There are 21 aircraft carriers in active service worldwide. 10 of these belong to the U.S. (this is not counting helicopter carriers). The next closest is Italy, with two, and India with two (though one is a converted Kiev-class carrier, which is a carrier/cruiser hybrid). Everyone else has but one. Having even a single carrier puts you in a very exclusive club and gives you military options you would never otherwise have.
这是远距离展现实力的唯一方法。目前全世界现役的航空母舰有21艘。其中10艘属于美国(这还不包括直升机航空母舰)。紧随其后的是意大利，拥有两艘航母，印度也拥有两艘(尽管其中一艘是改进型基辅级航母，是一艘航母/巡洋舰混合动力航母)。即使只有一艘航母，也会让你跻身一个非常排外的俱乐部，让你拥有在其他情况下永远不会拥有的军事选择。
Basundhar Roy, studied at Manipal University
Aircraft carriers made their name as a class of ship in the pacific theatre during world war 2 . It was carrier ships that allowed Japan to launch the devastating raid on Pearl Harbor , it was sinking of their 4 carriers 6 month later during the battle of midway that effectively sealed Japan's fate . They never recovered from the shock and were on the back foot since then .
This introduction is necessary to make my point , carriers are high risk high reward assets. And of real use only at distance where you land based aircrafts cannot reach . High risk high reward because if undetected , they can allow you to launch devastating air strikes but in this age unlike 1941 , carriers can be detected and tracked right from the dock and can be taken away by a salvo of missiles or a stealthy undetectable nuclear submarine that is cam right by the dock . Once sunk , it inflicts a brutal shock to the enemies moral as well as his ability to conduct warfare . When a carrier goes down , it takes down with it thousands of life as well as very costly airplanes .
第二次世界大战期间，航空母舰在太平洋战区一战成名。航母令日本对珍珠港进行了毁灭性袭击，6月后的中途岛战役期间日本的四艘航母系数被击沉。他们至今仍未从那次打击中恢复过来。
航母是高风险高回报的资产。只有在你的陆基飞机无法到达的距离上才能真正发挥作用。高风险高回报是因为如果未被发现，你可以进行毁灭性的空中打击，但现在和1941年不同了，航母在船坞就会被探测和跟踪到。
As such , I have been curious for some time why a traditionally defensive nation like India will need 3 carrier ships(As opposed to say 2 ). We don't suffer from imperialistic tendencies , one can argue they can be be used in case of conflict against China but if we look past the rhetoric that plagues India-China conflict debate, it is highly unlikely either will attack the other and if god forbid the conflict escalates to a level where assets such as carriers are involved , it will be the ballistic missiles with convetional/nuclear warhead that will make the difference , not a bunch of airplanes 200 km from the shore .
They are only of practical use against weaker nations in far away theatres not possessing the capability to effectively engage and sink a carrier ship - can be done by surface skimming cruise missiles , airplanes or submarines . There is a reason that asides from US who are engaged in conflict in mutiple theatres against weak enemies devoid of any counter capability , very few actually have these assets in numbers . Even Russia has only one and it is a relic . They are not of much strategic use in defence due to their associated vulnerability . Even partial damage which is very relatively easy to inflict(one well aimed bomb will render the runway defunct even if the ship remains afloat and capable of self propulsion ) , they have to return or worse tugged back to dock for repairs .
因此，很久以来我一直很好奇，为什么像印度这样的传统防御国家需要3艘航母(而非2艘)。我们并没有帝国主义的倾向，你可能会认为在发生冲突时，它们可用于对抗中国，但如果我们看看困扰中印冲突的争论就知道，中印之间是不可能进攻彼此的，如果冲突真的上升到需要动用航母的水平，也只是传统/核弹头的弹道导弹的区别，而非距离海岸200公里之外的飞机的区别。
它们只在遥远的战区对较弱的国家时能发挥作用，这些战区没有能力有效地攻击和击沉航母——只有通过巡航导弹、飞机或潜艇掠过水面才能实现。真正拥有航母的国家很少，这是有原因的。就俩俄罗斯也只有一艘航母，而且是历史遗留下来的。由于航母太脆弱，它们在国防方面并没有多少战略用途。即使是局部受损(一枚瞄得很准的炸弹就能破坏跑道，即使这艘航母仍然能漂浮在水面上，并且能够继续推进)，也必须返回码头，或者更糟的是，被拖回码头修理。
Akshay Jain, Engineer | Entrepreneur.
I am sure there might be many Quorans expert on the Indian Navy and also navy in general.
Nonetheless I would like to give you the answer.
An Aircraft carrier is a moving Air Base that you can carry around the world and use it to protect your interests.
As India and China climb the ladder on the World stage their Navies are bound to upgrade to protect the interests of their respective countries.
Also, interestingly India and China are going to have many disputes in the sea (oil resources all across the indian ocean to South China Sea) and maintaining a Blue-water navy is important.
Hope this helps.
我相信可能Quora网友中有不少印度海军和其他海军方面的专家。
尽管如此，我还是想写下这个答案。
航空母舰是一个移动的空军基地，你可以通过它环游世界，用它来保护你的利益。
随着印度和中国在世界舞台上步步高升，两国海军必然会升级，以保护各自国家的利益。
此外，有趣的是，印度和中国将在海上面临很多争端(从印度洋到南海都有石油资源)，维持一支蓝水海军很重要。
希望这个回答对你有帮助。
Akshay Kini, Software Engineer, History lover, Finance counter?
An aircraft carrier is "Sovereign Territory" in any ocean of this world (international waters).
From HowStuffWorks:
Under international Freedom of Navigation laws, aircraft carriers and other warships are recognized as sovereign territories in almost all of the ocean. As long as a ship doesn't get too close to any nation's coast, the crew can carry on just like they're back home.
航空母舰是在世界上任何海洋(国际水域)上的“主权领土”。
HowStuffWorks上是这么写的：
根据国际航行自由法，航空母舰和其他军舰是大洋上的主权领土。只要一艘船不太靠近任何国家的海岸，船员们就能像在自己国家里一样继续航行。
So, on an Aircraft Carrier, and the airspace above it, YOUR countries laws apply.
If those poor Italian Marines who shot the Kerala Fishermen were on top of an Aircraft Carrier: Indian courts would have NO jurisdiction.
因此，在航空母舰及其上方的空域，是适用你们国家的法律的。
如果射杀喀拉拉邦渔民的可怜的意大利海军陆战队队员在一艘航空母舰上：印度法院就没有管辖权了。
David Waedemon, electrical engineer
44% of the world's population live withing 150km of the ocean.
Having a carrier allows you to deploy a military presence close to most of the world without having to invade a country.
44%的世界人口生活在距离海洋150公里的范围内。
拥有一艘航母，你可以在世界大部分地区部署军事力量，而不必入侵一个国家。
Loring Chien, Knows a bit about airplanes
Much of the worlds population and power is located within a few hundred miles of the oceans. With terratorial rights only going out a few miles if you have a carrier task force you can put an complete air base within reach of most strategic places on earth. This what they call projection of power.
世界上大部分人口和能源都位于离海洋几百英里范围以内。如果你有一个航母特遣部队，你就可以把一个完整的空军基地建在地球上最具战略意义的地方。这就是所谓的实力投射。
Richard I. Polis, Entrepreneur/Consultant
Aircraft carriers are about the only way to project power rapidly.
航空母舰大概是快速投射军事实力的唯一途径。
Anonymous
It is important if your potential opponent is does not have the ability to neutralize carriers. Most countries do not.
如果你的潜在敌对国没有抵抗航母的能力，那航母就很重要。大多数国家都没有这个能力。
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