I have just edited my previous post as it was meant to say "only a lunatic would suggest having ASW helicopters without surface ASW platforms..."
I have no idea about the origins of HARM, and for most of the eighties I was at primary school. Sadly, most media commentary about carrier aviation is in terms of the ability to move mud, such as claiming that the F-14 was to defend the carrier.
A carrier, like any other warship, gives a task/strike group weapons and capabilities. It is also an exempler of system integration. It is also a heroic model of how to live, guided by conscience (cockpit instruments), reacting to information (shipboard landing aids), and respecting and valuing others (maintainers, flight deck personnel, sailors doing jobs all over the carrier - and other ships), and a commitment to learning by forgiving and learning from errors.