I'm kinda thinkin, Pick one: Gator Freighter or Little Flattop. I mean, you COULD carry a Battalion of Marines aboard a CVL, and land them using Ospreys or conventional Helos, and maintain some strike or Power Projection capability, but remember, a jack of all trades is a master of none. The American Wasp, Tarawa, and Iwo Jima class have large flight decks designed mostly for heavy helicopters, to carry Marines ashore. The fact that the Harrier can be operated from their decks is a bonus, and gives the ship some power projection and sea control capabilities, but it is not a full fledged Carrier. It can't operate the sophisticated support aircraft that Carriers usually embark to make their air wings the potent forces that they are (Fighters and Attack Craft, frequently becoming the same airframes; Patrol Bombers such as the S-3 Viking, AWACS, Electronic Warfare Aircraft, Light Cargo aircraft, and helicopters). Airframes such as Harrier, Osprey, and F-35 can assume some of these roles, but (at least for the Harrier and F-35), Vertical or short takeoffs reduce the amount of payload such aircraft can carry. Also, the space allocated to a Gator Frieghter's airwing is significantly less, considering the size of the vessel, than an equal-sized carrier, since the ship also has to carry, in addition to the normal shipboard equipment and Ship's company, the Air Wing, Air Crews, landing craft and their crews and supplies, as well as a landing party, usually at least a reinforced battalion, between 800 and 1500 strong. And those Marines need things like food, and their equipment...It takes alot of space.
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