This Is How The U.S. Navy Would Destroy A Chinese Aircraft Carrier

Liaoning Aircraft Carrier Group in South China Sea

James Holmes, National Interest: Revealed: How the U.S. Navy Would Destroy a Chinese Aircraft Carrier

America's answer to the 'carrier-killer missile.'

In 2020, as today, the carrier air wing will remain the surface U.S. Navy’s chief carrier-killer. U.S. CVNs can carry about 85 tactical aircraft. While estimates of the size of a future Chinese flattop’s air wing vary, let’s take a high-end estimate of 50 fixed-wing planes and helicopters. That means, conservatively speaking, that the U.S. CVN’s complement will be 70 percent larger than its PLA Navy opponent’s.

And in all likelihood, the American complement will be superior to the Chinese on a warbird-for-warbird basis. It appears future PLA Navy flattops will, like Liaoning, be outfitted with ski jumps on their bows to vault aircraft into the sky. That limits the weight—and thus the load of fuel and weapons—that a Chinese aircraft can haul while still getting off the flight deck.

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WNU Editor: That is a lot of weapon systems to target just one big and old Chinese aircraft carrier .... but in wartime I guess the concept of overkill may not be a bad thing.