Another issue I have is not whether a carrier is super or not, but how many do you have? Kinda like guns, three is one and one is none. Figure one carrier in re-fit, we went to the yards about every two years sometimes a long stay and sometimes a few months. One carrier training, after a re-fit period it is close to a year before you have a fully trained carrier group with air arm. One out there putting warheads on foreheads.
It will also interest me to see how the F-35 does long term. I used to handle tech repair and advisory documents for the harrier daily. Then go into the military aviation records system and it was clear the harrier had a much higher mishap rate than any other fixed wing in service. Single engine, single crew, weird flight regime, it's no wonder.
