American aircraft carriers ‘unchallenged primacy may be coming to close’… https://t.co/swf34nJLcQ

— Drudge Report Feed (@drudgefeed) February 22, 2016

The drumbeat of “American primacy on the seas or the end of the era for the American aircraft carriers” has been going on for decades.

When the Soviets fielded the Kirov class cruisers, this was supposedly the end.

When the Soviets fielded Alfa class submarines, this was the end.

When the Soviets fielded Akula class submarines, this was the end.

When the Soviets fielded the Shkval torpedoes, this was the end.

We saw this when the Iranians tested their own version of Shkvals.

This is scare-mongering to gin up more support for more funding for carriers.

Just because the Iranians got an UAV to take pictures of a carrier from a distance doesn’t mean that the Navy’s carriers are no longer useful (though if that’s indeed the case, then free up the tens of billions that are going to the next generation of carriers, and move to smaller surface combatants - but we all know that’s not going to happen).