Hey gixxxerking, The death radii of a nuke torp. is 1/3 mile against a submerged sub, so think I really stretched my calculation is incorrect! Sincerely, Keith

Have to consider the yield too. And airburst is far more wide spread destruction against surface ship.

I think the "problem" per se is that the assumption is that the CSF is the primary strike weapon. Primary strike doesn't necessarily require CSF/CSF's on immediate station. There are other ways of inflicting force depletion on the "enemy" force even if the initial CSF is a week away, and the others are in transit with a 2-3 week arrival slot. If the principle vehicle of response is the CSF, then of course the outcome is stretched and becomes an attrition issue. My argument is that significant interruption can be implemented whilst the follow up extra CSF's/ESF's/ARG's are in transit.

I agree. USAF is likely to fire the first offensive shot.

"Against AEGIS ships operating alone, MAYBE you could saturate with enough missiles due to the limitations of detection range against sea skimmers" WTF? The Kh-15 is a Mach-5 terminal dive missile. The SM-2's speed is Mach 4, IIRC. Because the Kh-15 is so small and compact, a great many of them can be carried. And many can be launched in a volley. "Against a MODERN CSF, which happens to be DATALINKED with orbiting E-2Cs which stretch detection range into the hundreds of nm's, it's a hugely different story. SM-2s can then zoom out OTH and splash those sea skimmers. They're not "limited" by any means. " You wouldn't need datalink, the Kh-15s would be visible miles away as they use a high-altitude (15000-25000m) attack profile. Their speed and small size would make them incredibly difficult targets, though. Mach 5 means around 5500-6000km/h. That's around 1600m/sec. M-829 or 3BM-29/32 APFSDS-T rounds do about 1550m/sec. I'd love to see an AEGIS cruiser shoot down a full broadside of hypersonic missiles bearing down on it. "The E-2Cs DIRECTLY give info to the battlegroup, which actually is the real air warfare center" That's wonderful, but if the carrier battlegroup is spread out over 100 miles sqare and the air-attack is directed towards the escorts on the fringes then the other escorts would only be able to provide limited assistence. The Kh-15s would be over half way to the target before they would come into range of the other escorts. I'll admit that when the JSF comes into service it will dramatically change the situation, but now with only F-18Cs and Es, the outer air battle would be tipped in favour of the four regiments of Su-30s. This is especially since there are so few, if any (?), Tomcats in front line service. "And current CSFs are much closer together than before. Recent photos will show this. We're not really worried about nuclear cruise missiles anymore." What's the typical grouping?

>>The Aircraft carrier is armored and the water will allow the carrier to expend some of the energy into movement. Many structures can survive nukes at fairly close detonation!!! The energy of the blast exponentially decreases!!!<< So what? The crew will still be dead (superhot fireball is going to roast them, and a metal ship will keep the heat inside for a good long while) and the missiles and bombs aboard the carrier may explode, thus destroying the ship..

--only a F/A-18C/E, your joking right. --Mach 5 is not anything special. Aegis can hit that. Enough 4 sure could get through but No one has that many a/c to fire these. Also the CAP that the E-2C sends to intercept will complicate things. --When you say many in a volley, how many? Assuming that everything works out perfectly, how many and what types of missiles are in the volley?

--only a F/A-18C/E, your joking right. --------------------- Exactly, in addition there'd be F-14's with AIM-54's and such, but you can't forget the effect E-2's would have on the air battle. Especially now, it's a folly to determine an air battle in terms of warplane vs. warplane, the entire integrated package is most important, and a group of carrier aircraft with the benefit of AEGIS and AWAC information would certainly win in that category against Sukhois operating at long ranges with the majority of their situational awareness coming from their onboard sensors.

AIM-54 retired.

AIM-120 would suffice and I get your point.