A 600 ship Navy perhaps? I heard that somewhere.
What people seem to be missing the point on is what an enemy must go through to get to an A/C. The satellite data, technology, logistics. Very few if any could put all of that together to successfully attack a carrier group, let alone the carrier in the middle of that group. Outside of a tactical nuke, it is nearly impossible.
First off, we will know about it before a launch even happens. Once there is a launch, we will be tracking it for hundreds of miles. The defensive perimeter will already be activated and weapons deployed to stop the attack.
Can some nation get a lucky shot off? Sure.
Do you not believe that an enemy with tactical nukes that faced an existential threat from CBGs would use them?
I've believed this since various REFORGER exercises presumed air cover from CBGs. The Russians would NEVER allow themselves to be defeated if it could be prevented by tactical nukes at sea - and no President could or would release strategic weapons in response to an attack that killed zero US civilians.
It's what Ronald Reagan wanted, but never quite got.
Easy. You overwhelm the defense systems with sheer numbers. And as anti-ship weapons become more powerful, cheaper, concealable and easier to produce, eventually you'll find yourself on the wrong side of math.
im sure you’re right. most people don’t understand the defense system surrounding a carrier. I do understand it and what I think you are not fully considering is the chinese and Russian satellites and anti ship tech are getting better and better while the defensive perimeter around carriers is getting smaller and smaller. so it eventually come to a point where we can no longer guarantee the survivability of an asset that, in a conflict, is irreplaceable. you don’t go into a fight with the idea that if we lose a single asset the battle is likely lost. you have to have backups and contingincies. this makes the carrier too valuable to lose and therefore has to be deployed in a less than effective posture. if we had a 600 ship navy the relative value of each ship decreases and i’d feel comfortable with the balance that would create. heck you could even add more carriers, which would be great.
you say very few, if any, could pull off an attempt to attack a carrier task force. I agree. the problem is I think that list would include china and Russia. two of the top four strategic enemies in the world. no iran, no n.korea right?
I love these discussions and I don’t want to come off as “anti carrier” cuz im not. im just pissed that we’re sacrificing the rest of our navy and creating an unhealthy balance in our fleet which in the long run lowers combat effectiveness.