Changes

A 727, 737 or MD80 have exactly the same chance as any other airliner of landing on, and taking off from, a US Navy carrier: nil. All of these aircraft need at least a 5,000 foot runway. The runway on a ''Nimitz''-class carrier is less than 700 feet long. The catapults simply don't have the power to launch one, and they have no afterburners to attain critical speed before falling into the sea and being run down by the ship. There is no way at all it could be made to work.

A 727, 737 or MD80 have exactly the same chance as any other airliner of landing on, and taking off from, a US Navy carrier: nil. All of these aircraft need at least a 5,000 foot runway. The runway on a ''Nimitz''-class carrier is less than 700 feet long. The catapults simply don't have the power to launch one, and they have no afterburners to attain critical speed before falling into the sea and being run down by the ship. There is no way at all it could be made to work.

Could Ragnar convert fast jests to run on hydrogen? No; not even remotely feasible.

"Perhaps John Galt could design a new quantum-assisted hydrogen-burning turbofan with which Ragnar could retrofit a squadron of F/A-18 jet fighter-attackers, thus giving them extra range or even a boost in speed"

 

No, he couldn't. EVen if it was possible to get a military turbojet to run on hydrogen (it isn't) you'd end up with LESS range.

There is also no possibility whatsoever that Ragnar could use a carrier for shore bombardment; it carries no heavy guns, only a few 20mm Phalanx cannon for point defence. On the subject of defence, it barely has any: assuming that any other country has ANY navy left, all they have to do is send a destroyer close in to the carrier during a storm, when it can't launch aircraft, and pound it to bits with torpedos, missiles and finally short-range gunfire. No US carrier ever goes anywhere without an entire surface battle group and two submarine escorts, and there's a reason for that: carriers are defenceless unless they can fly off aircraft.

There is also no possibility whatsoever that Ragnar could use a carrier for shore bombardment; it carries no heavy guns, only a few 20mm Phalanx cannon for point defence. On the subject of defence, it barely has any: assuming that any other country has ANY navy left, all they have to do is send a destroyer close in to the carrier during a storm, when it can't launch aircraft, and pound it to bits with torpedos, missiles and finally short-range gunfire. No US carrier ever goes anywhere without an entire surface battle group and two submarine escorts, and there's a reason for that: carriers are defenceless unless they can fly off aircraft.