In times of war, the Imperial Navy's demand for offensive power was endless, and the most powerful means of attack was carrier-based aviation based on aircraft carriers.

Obviously, the more aircraft carriers are definitely the merrier.

It is precisely because of this that how to obtain enough aircraft carriers in wartime has become a problem that the Imperial Navy must seriously consider and begin to solve.

It was against this background that the "alternative aircraft carrier" was born.

However, before the construction began, the Imperial Navy recognized that the "alternative aircraft carrier" was only an emergency and not an ideal choice.

If it is only used for escort operations, then it is not a big problem to build according to the standards of merchant ships, after all, escort combat operations are carried out in the rear, it is difficult to encounter real challenges, and it can obtain the support and cooperation of other combat forces, including shore-based aviation. In fact, in World War II, escort carriers that were converted from merchant ships were no worse than small aircraft carriers built to warship standards.

But the problem is that it is a bit difficult to let the "alternative aircraft carrier" carry out other combat missions.

Obviously, for medium-sized aircraft carriers with a full load displacement of 50,000 tons and capable of carrying up to 50 carrier-based aircraft, it is certainly not limited to escort operations.

It is simply normal for a front-line commander to dispatch an escort aircraft carrier to carry out other combat missions.

According to the statistics of the Imperial Navy, during the Second Global War, especially in the first three years, escort aircraft carriers spent about 70% of their time performing tasks unrelated to escort, such as transporting combat aircraft to the front line, or even directly participating in combat operations. Even in the latter stages of the war, escort carriers spent more than half of their time doing work outside of their own duties. The point is that less than one-third of the losses suffered by escort carriers are related to escort operations, and the other two-thirds are suffered during non-escort missions.

It can be seen that the demand for escort aircraft carriers in actual combat far exceeds the design requirements.

It was also against this background that the Imperial Navy decided to develop a more powerful medium-sized aircraft carrier on the basis of an "alternative aircraft carrier".

This is the "enhanced aircraft carrier".

If you want to say, the launch of the "enhanced aircraft carrier" is not late, it starts almost at the same time as the "alternative aircraft carrier", but the pace of advancement is much slower.

The reason is also very simple, the conditions are not ripe.

Don't forget, the war broke out, and the main shipyards were tasked with building major warships such as aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, amphibious assault ships, and large attack submarines.

In addition, the number of ships built is not only limited by the shipyard, but also directly linked to the production of steel.

The empire's large steel mills were almost entirely located on the coast and close to the port, mainly to reduce the cost of transportation.

In fact, many of the empire's shipyards developed from steel mills.

There is no doubt that in the early days of the war, even if there was an urgent need, it was necessary to be constrained by reality and use limited resources where it was most critical.

If anything, this is also the key to the "alternative aircraft carrier" sticking to the standard of merchant shipping.

If the warship standard is adopted, it will be rejected when the project is established, because in the early stage of the war, the output of high-strength alloy steel that meets the military standard cannot meet the needs of shipbuilding at all, and there is no way to guarantee even the main warship, let alone the auxiliary ship of insufficient importance.

However, the Imperial Navy did not abandon the "enhanced aircraft carrier" because of this, at least the design work was not affected.

Compared with the "alternative aircraft carrier", the most prominent change of the "enhanced aircraft carrier" is the adoption of warship standards to improve battlefield survivability.

Of course, it's certainly not that simple.

In terms of tactical use, the "enhanced aircraft carrier" is treated as a supplement to large aircraft carriers and supercarriers to improve the tactical flexibility of the fleet.

To put it more bluntly, replacing one large aircraft carrier or supercarrier with two or three "enhanced aircraft carriers" can significantly improve the tactical flexibility of low-intensity combat missions, so that the task force is no longer limited by the number of aircraft carriers and can achieve higher combat efficiency.

In terms of specific applications, it is mainly aimed at low-intensity combat missions, such as providing air support to the Marine Corps during landing operations.

Strictly speaking, this is precisely the main purpose to be achieved when launching the "enhanced aircraft carrier".

During the Second Global War, the small fleet carriers of the Imperial Navy were mainly used for landing operations, and in the later period, they were directly integrated into the landing fleet.

From this point of view, the "enhanced aircraft carrier" is more like a small fleet aircraft carrier in the new era.

Of course, thanks to technological progress, especially the large-scale carrier-based aircraft, the "enhanced aircraft carrier" cannot be miniaturized.

However, compared with enhancing combat capabilities, it is more necessary to control the cost of construction.

The reason is also very simple, if it is too expensive, it is better to build a large aircraft carrier with more complete combat capabilities.

In fact, this was the only requirement made by the Imperial Navy during the design phase.

On the basis of the "alternative aircraft carrier", the survivability will be improved by adopting the design standards of warships, and the construction cost will be controlled within 150% of the "alternative aircraft carrier". As for specific performance indicators, such as the number of aircraft carriers and the ability to sustain combat operations, they can be slightly reduced. After all, the "enhanced aircraft carrier" is also mainly active in the rear, which can easily obtain supplies, and there is no need to be independent.

According to the original design plan, the "enhanced aircraft carrier" is to enhance survivability by sacrificing bomb load and fuel load, and reducing the hangar area. To put it simply, it is to use the tonnage saved to enhance the structural strength of the hull and avoid the use of scarce high-strength alloy steel.

The key is actually the high-strength alloy steel that must be used in the construction of warships.

Not to mention in the Liangxia Empire, looking at the whole world, high-strength alloy steels of military standards are strategic materials. Not only is it necessary to build warships, but also other weapons and equipment, such as the army's main battle tanks. Even in combat aircraft, some parts are made of high-strength alloy steel, such as landing gear.

After entering the state of war, strategic materials, including high-strength alloy steel, were all included in the distribution system.

Obviously, it's not like you can get as much as you want.

However, replacing it with ordinary steel will inevitably lead to an increase in the weight of the structure, which will have an impact on performance.

According to the initial version, the number of aircraft carriers of the "enhanced aircraft carrier" was reduced to 36, that is, 4 and a half squadrons, the fuel load and bomb load were reduced by a quarter, the endurance was reduced to 5000 nautical miles, and the continuous combat capability was only 5 days, and it was not possible to provide full maintenance for carrier-based aircraft.

Of course, this is also related to the improvement of other performance indicators.

For example, in order to achieve a speed of 30 knots, and when the power system is overloaded, it is necessary to use a more powerful gas turbine, which leads to higher fuel consumption and takes up more internal space, which can only reduce the size of the ammunition depot and fuel depot.

Unfortunately, the plan was still not approved.

Not because the performance is too poor, but because there is no supporting capacity, that is, shipyards capable of building medium-sized aircraft carriers do not have controlled slipways available.

Crucially, the need for "enhanced aircraft carriers" in the Imperial Navy was not very urgent.

At that time, the Imperial Navy would need at least two years to make deployment adjustments in the Guia direction before it was expected to launch a strategic offensive. In the early offensive operation, the main focus was to attack the islands, and the combat forces invested would not be too much, and the existing task force was sufficient. Besides, the Nuland Navy has been routed and it is difficult to pose a threat in the short term, and the possibility of a decisive battle for the fleet is not very likely.

In addition, the main battlefield of the Imperial Navy in the near future is actually in the Fanyan Ocean.

To put it simply, it means supporting combat operations on the other side of the southern subcontinent, including blockading the country of Van Luo and preventing the Nuland Republic from providing military assistance to it.

Because the Imperial Navy has many military bases on the Fanyan Ocean, such as the Diego base in the center of the Fanyan Ocean, for the Imperial Navy, the requirements for the fleet are not too big to fight against the Fanyan Ocean, mainly relying on shore-based aviation and the escort fleet covering the transport fleet.

From this point of view, what the Imperial Navy is most in short supply is actually an "alternative aircraft carrier" for escort operations.

It is precisely for this reason that when the "alternative aircraft carriers" were being built in large quantities, the "enhanced aircraft carriers" were not launched for a long time.

That's not a bad thing, though.

By the time the Imperial Navy needed "enhanced aircraft carriers", the production capacity of high-strength alloy steel had increased more than ten times, and there was no longer a need to worry about building materials.

Crucially, construction costs have been significantly reduced.

Of course, the Imperial Navy also put forward higher requirements for "enhanced aircraft carriers".

To put it simply, it is to obtain 60% of the combat effectiveness equivalent to a supercarrier with the tonnage of a medium-sized aircraft carrier to fill the vacancy caused by the lack of large aircraft carriers.

Apparently, the Imperial Navy used the "enhanced aircraft carrier" as a replacement for a large aircraft carrier.

In fact, this is also an inevitable result.

The reason is simple: supercarriers are too expensive to build in large quantities, and the huge maintenance costs are also an embarrassment for the Imperial Navy.

Even in times of war, it was impossible for the Imperial Navy to expand the size of its fleet indefinitely.

Besides, not every battle requires a supercarrier sortie.

As for large aircraft carriers, the cost-effectiveness ratio is obviously not ideal.

For example, the construction cost of the "Chen Bingxun" class is about 80% of that of the "Xue Yuanzheng" class, and the combat efficiency in high-intensity combat is only equivalent to 65% of that of the "Xue Yuanzheng" class. The key is that in low-intensity battles, the effectiveness and cost ratio of the "Chen Bingxun" class is not much higher than that of the "Xue Yuanzheng" class.

In other words, large aircraft carriers are a bit too high and too low.

In addition, after the "Chen Bingxun" class, the Imperial Navy did not build any more large aircraft carriers.

Obviously, just redesigning it takes a lot of time, so a large aircraft carrier is not an ideal choice, and there is no cost-effectiveness ratio at all.

It is precisely for this reason that the Imperial Navy adjusted the performance indicators of the "enhanced aircraft carrier", requiring a 60,000-ton hull to obtain 60% of the combat effectiveness of the supercarrier.

Obviously, this is not a low requirement at all.

To put it simply, that is, to maintain 90% of the combat effectiveness of the "Chen Bingxun" class, and reduce the displacement by 24,000 tons.

Even with the most advanced shipbuilding technology, it is very difficult.

Not to mention anything else, in order to make the combat effectiveness of the supercarrier reach 60%, it needs to be equipped with at least 3 catapults, which also puts forward high requirements for the power system, even if the latest models of gas turbines, recuperative steam launchers and catapults are used, the tonnage that can be reduced is very limited.

It is for this reason that before construction begins, the Imperial Navy has adjusted its performance indicators and lowered its requirements.

According to the final requirements, the "enhanced aircraft carrier" is only equipped with two catapults, two power systems, and two propulsion systems, and the sortie rate of carrier-based aircraft is equivalent to 50 percent of that of the "Xue Yuanzheng" class, while the performance indicators such as endurance range, sustained combat time, and maximum speed have been improved.

Apparently, the "enhanced aircraft carrier" eventually evolved into a medium aircraft carrier.

Let's not forget that over the past few decades, the Imperial Navy has rejected small and medium-sized aircraft carriers, but in the end it has had to bow to reality.

From the point of view of technological development, the "enhanced aircraft carrier" is actually going downhill.

However, this does not negate the value of the project entirely.

At the tactical level, the "enhanced aircraft carrier" solved the number one problem of the Imperial Navy in the war. On the premise of not expanding the size of the fleet on a large scale, the flexibility of the fleet's operations has been enhanced, and the gap in forces caused by the shortage of large aircraft carriers and supercarriers has been filled.

It's just that the key is on a technical level.

To put it simply, the development of new types of equipment was initiated during the design of the "enhanced aircraft carrier".

The most representative, that is, the electromagnetic catapult, which later replaced the steam catapult.

Although the Imperial Navy had been working on the development of electromagnetic catapults long before the outbreak of the Great War, there was no significant progress due to the influence of technology and practical needs. The main thing is that the steam catapult used now can fully meet the requirements of the navy, so when developing the new catapult, there is not too obvious urgency, which leads to the navy's reluctance to invest too much money.

The emergence of "enhanced aircraft carriers" provided a rationale for the development of electromagnetic catapults.

The reason is also very simple, whether it is equipped with 2 or 3 catapults, electromagnetic catapults are the only option to achieve the tactical performance indicators proposed by the Navy. In fact, only 2 electromagnetic catapults are needed, and equipped with 3 electromagnetic catapults can make the sortie efficiency of the "enhanced aircraft carrier" reach the level of a supercarrier, so that the "enhanced aircraft carrier" will become a real main aircraft carrier.

It is precisely because of this that the Imperial Navy began to pay attention to electromagnetic catapults, and invested a lot of money in the development of electromagnetic catapults.

Although it was not possible to develop it in time for the war, otherwise the Imperial Navy would not have lowered its performance indicators, these studies carried out during the war laid a solid foundation for the post-war research and development work, and became a key factor for the Imperial Navy to continue to promote the development of electromagnetic catapults after the war.

The reason is also very simple, cutting-edge technologies that require a huge amount of investment have made breakthroughs in wartime, or sufficient funds have been invested.

If anything, the "enhanced aircraft carrier" is a product capable of changing the face of the Navy.

It's a pity that it was born a little later.

If large-scale construction had begun two years earlier, or even a year earlier, the "enhanced aircraft carrier" could well have become the absolute workhorse of the Imperial Navy. As a result, by the time the Imperial Navy decided to massively build "enhanced aircraft carriers", there was no longer a relevant tactical need.

As a result, by the end of the war, only 8 "enhanced aircraft carriers" had been built, and all of them were sold to the Allies after the war.

During the Great War, the main force of the Imperial Navy was still the supercarrier led by the "Xue Yuanzheng" class!