The CAMM referred to by perfectgeneral2 works with a gas piston, or something like, so there is no rocket efflux until it's a decent distance up and mostly turned over. This solves the problem of Aster getting crud all over your nice shiny warship. However ASRAAM and Aster are probably IM compliant, so if the VLS is hit by an incoming missile you only lose some (or all) of the VLS cells, you certainly don't lose the carrier as the missiles will not go into high-order detonation.  The exclusive use of VLS, especially for point defence, isn't a good idea, as you note, but I don't think that anyone was recommending that.

Down-wash from the ignited rocket plume is going to kick up FOD debris and scorcb deck no matter how far up the cold launch capsule kicks your 1/2 tonne rocket. That is BAD on a flight deck and it is lethal for jets. Also rockets have been known to FALL after failure to ignite. [KABOOM]. I don't trust SYLVER for the same reason I don't trust the Mark 41. Neither cell has been hit by a rocket that exploded inside the cell for REAL in the fully loaded magazine condition. Our own architects seem to feel that the cell launcher will certainly chain off with the loss of the ship. That is the chief reason we went with the perimeter cell launcher system for the DDX and why we are using scrape-offs and deck mounts for our smaller SAMS wherever possible now.

So why are we comparing a point-defence system with an area-defence system as an either/or choice, especially when the Carrier will mount point defence, regardless of the AAW ships?

The French mounted the ASTER on the CdG. I was  just answering Neut why you DON'T do that thing.

Out of interest, under what scenario is a simultaneous attack by four SS-N-27, let alone eight, likely?

It has been raised before, that Starstreak, as an ACLOS system, could be suitable as a point defence system. The Starstreak 1 was insufficiently accurate, but the more recent Starstreak 2 might be more suitable, and possibly provide a common launcher for the new LMM. The heavyweight darts would seem to be more effective against terminal-phase super-sonic missiles than a small proximity fused warhead. Assuming that they hit.

HTK from a Starstreak has been thoroughly weapon proofed.  I do not disagree with this.  It has to stop its targets at least 300 meters from the ship to cause a splash or the burning wreckage will impact into the ship's side.  It is also a perfect candidate for a lightweight slue and elevate cell mount.  I don't like pop up missiles for carriers or base ships at all for obvious reasons. The only question I have about Starstreak is its slant range. At  7,000-10,000 meters, it might be a little tight on time unless you really rippled off a flock of them at a salvo of inbounds.

Why four or more missiles against a carrier or a destroyer? Well if you are going to be DUMB enough to attack either the RN or the USN on the high seas with a cruise missile attack which is tantamount to a declaration of war, do you want the object vessel of the attack to  survive? I sure wouldn't want to be Ahmadinejad explaining to Khameinii why I shot off two C-802s at the HMS [insert name here] only to see the British ship routinely splash the missiles and  start shooting back at anything Iranian with murder in her heart: and then have both the British and Americans follow up with air strikes that reduce my oil facilities to smoking ruins. Having that televised worldwide-indicating total IMPOTENCE?  How long would I, Ahmadinejad,  last?

If you are going to do something that stupid and CRAZY, you are going to go in with the whole pig, not just the snout.

My replies in bold below.

The British have been working HARD on the front end of that bird as well as the motor and the telemetry. Its not a MICA. I expect that A2A, Meteor, missile to work very well. The good news in that is that you will have a possible replacement for that PoS that you field in the T45s that actually is a good ATG missile.

The bad news is that you still won't be able to ABM with it because the ramjet fails at altitude . For that high altitude work you need a ROCKET-which is why the Dutch and the Spaniards stayed with STANDARD and ESSM.

The Dutch frigates are nice.  Don't sell the T45s short, though.  They are fine destroyers-probably as near good as anything afloat today. [Kongos?] The T45s have state of the art radar, passive detectors and both offensive and defensive countermeasure systems that make them good AAW bodyguard ships. They will be excellent bodyguard ships once you either fix or JUNK ASTER.