HAVE FLIGHT DECK, WILL PROJECT POWER: U.S. Marines Want to Pack 20 Stealth Fighters on One Assault Ship.

The plan, which the Corps laid out in the 2017 edition of its annual aviation strategy document, has been under consideration for at least five years, according to the document.

Increasing demands on the U.S. Navy’s 10 supercarriers, the entry into service of the aviation-optimized America-class assault ships and the fast-growing numbers of vertical-landing F-35Bs in the Marines’ inventory finally makes the light-carrier scheme feasible … and necessary.

“While the amphibious assault ship will never replace the aircraft carrier, it can be complementary, if employed in imaginative ways,” the strategy document notes.

Indeed. A light carrier doesn’t pack the punch — or enjoy the staying power — of a 100,000-ton nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. But providing the Marines with that much mobile air cover would free up the Navy to concentrate on its own missions.