Seems like the Russians are easily finding US carriers. Are the CBGs being shadowed as in the old days or the old USSR nuclear powered RORSATs still operating or the CBGs not strictly controlling electronic emissions? I would suspect China is actively pursing and probably launched ocean reconnaissance satellites with their own or purchased Russian technology and maybe sharing the product.

I doubt that a carrier and a half-dozen escorts conducting air operations in peacetime is hard to find electronically.  I don't know if they have any radar-equipped satellites in orbit, but I'd certainly be surprised if they don't have some ELINT collectors and some COMINT collectors in orbit.  I'd also bet they still fly collection missions with their Il-20 or something similar, and given their obvious interest in demonstrating they can still do it they may be occasionally flying some special emphasis collection routes down around Japan just to find the Nimitz, followed up by a visit from a Bear.

A carrier is like an airport.   It has radars that reach out 200 miles.  Which means ESM can tag it at 300 miles.

Using a single polar orbiting satellite it's easy to find the location of a CBG every day. 

Hard to hide a CBG. 

Let's not forget the AWACs/E2Cs out there 100-200 miles using their long range radar. 

 

 

Why not counter such Russian provocations in kind?  For example, send spy planes over the Russian airspace.  Tit for tat.

Was the Nimitz in American airspace at the time?

Photon, I agree with Yimmy.  Like we've discussed in the thread about the last most recent flyover, it's international waters, eh?  But at first as I started reading your post I thought you were going to make a joke.  Here's what I thought you were going to type:

 

"Why not counter such Russian provocations in kind?  For example, send spy planes over Russian aircraft carriers... oh, wait a minute, yeah, I forgot.  Never mind."