What You Need to Know: The sinking of Russia's Moskva cruiser by Ukrainian anti-ship missiles in 2022 sparked debate over aircraft carrier vulnerability. While anti-ship missiles pose a real threat, U.S. carriers operate with layered defenses provided by their strike groups, unlike the Moskva, which was largely undefended.

-In a conflict, peer adversaries like China could attempt to overwhelm a carrier’s defenses with missile salvos, but this theory remains untested.

-The U.S. Navy is adapting by expanding carrier aircraft ranges and developing new data-processing roles for carriers, suggesting that while they may evolve, carriers are unlikely to face obsolescence anytime soon.

Since the Second World War, aircraft carriers have been the premier naval icon. Their ability to project power is unparalleled and they were viewed as virtually unsinkable. The past decade has seen many beginning to challenge that assumption as adversary nations have built up significant stocks of capable anti-ship missiles. This debate was vaulted into the limelight with the 2022 sinking of the Russian missile cruiser Moskva by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

While this........

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