What is a sky carrier good for, anyway? It is smaller and faster
than a sea carrier. Rapid reaction? 'First day of war' with SEAD
and bunker-busters against the enemy C4I? Commando transport
with stealthy helos and unmanned drones?


A country might be landlocked or have inconvenient geography for naval operations (Russia would be an example).

A country might want to force project into a landlocked country or into an area with inconvenient geography, without actually establishing bases. Like you want an operation similiar to Mali, but you want to avoid stationing ground forces for some reason, like you want to avoid cultural conflicts with the population or you want the option to run away really fast.

Or maybe China buys a significant portion of Cyprus and wants to protects it's interest there. But if the situation gets volatile, it either has already sea carriers in the medierran and can't get them out easily, or they are outside and it can't get them in, both can be a strategic problem. (You get the same tactical situation, if you propose a future cold war between the US and the EU).

Are sky carriers harder to attack then bases and sea carriers? If so they might have a role similiar to nuke shooting submarines. To make sure a preemptive strike can't destroy your complete arsenal.

They might also allow you to build up a threat, without explicitly saying so for diplomatic reasons. If you get a sea carrier close enough to a volatile spot, that it can make a fast response, you implicitly declare in public that you consider a military intervention. If you put your sky carrier on alert at home, you can always pretend it has nothing to do with that situation. Even if you transfer it to a closer allied country or have it hover over international waters, with the greater reach there might still be other hotspots it could be dedicated to.
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