Why does the US Navy have an air force?
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USAF aircraft are required to operate out of fixed location Air Force Bases. That limits at some level their ability to reach out into distant combat areas. Because of their mobility, the Navy’s fleet of aircraft carriers can project US power pretty much anywhere in the world (reasonably close to an ocean or sea).
The U.S. Air Force has its own navy – but no, it is not the second largest navy in the world. The rest of the USAF’s current fleet operates in the Gulf of Mexico out of Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. Tyndall is home to the 82d Aerial Targets Squadron, a unit that still flies the F-4E Phantom fighter plane.
Is the Air Force Navy the same as the Navy?
No, of course not. The Air Force Navy is a very specific fleet with very specific missions.
How many ships does the Air Force have in the water?
At its peak, the USAF had a dozen or so ships in the water, each with a designated role in supporting Air Force operations. At one point, the Air Force had so many ships, the Coast Guard might have been envious.
The U.S. Air Force has its own navy – but no, it is not the second largest navy in the world. The U.S. Navy isn’t even the second largest, by the way. More on that some other time. “Bigger” doesn’t translate into “better” by any means. Now, does the Air Force field anything that could actually rival the naval forces of another country?
Flying in groups of three, one acts as a chase plane and another two, unmanned drone planes flying with advanced countermeasures. These two are actually converted into drones and destined to be full-scale aerial targets for the Air Force. That’s where the ships of the USAF “Tyndall Navy” come in.