Article Summary and Key Points: China keeps building more and more aircraft carriers. And now, those carriers are backed up by swarms of anti-ship missiles the U.S. Navy must worry about.
Key Point #1 – The U.S. Navy faces growing concerns over China’s carrier-killer missiles, but aircraft carriers remain essential to American power projection.
Key Point #2 – While some argue that carriers are obsolete and funding should shift to submarines, new countermeasures—such as the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile, EA-18G Growler electronic warfare jets, and the MQ-25 Stingray tanker—help carriers evade and neutralize Chinese threats.
Key Point #3 – Although caution is warranted, advances in missile defense and electronic warfare bolster carrier survivability. With a new Chief of Naval Operations incoming, the Navy must enhance training and operational readiness to ensure carriers remain dominant in a potential conflict with China.
Can U.S. Aircraft Carriers Survive China’s Carrier-Killer Missiles?
The U.S. Navy must realize that it could lose an aircraft carrier to the Chinese. The East and South China Sea could become a location where a Nimitz-class flat-top could visit Davy Jones’ Locker.
This would bring the United States to its knees in a conflict with China.
The American people do not have the stomach for such a loss and there would be immense public pressure to stop any war if the worst happened to a Navy carrier.
Should We Stop Making Aircraft Carriers Altogether?
This has some observers claiming that the aircraft carrier is obsolete and that the new Ford-class flat-tops should be curtailed.
Then the Navy could contribute the saved money to American Virginia-class attack submarines. In fact, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has already outlined his military priorities for the future, and he wants the Virginia-class boats to be on the top of the list for more production.
That also means $50 billion in defense budget cuts to other programs.
There Are Many Ways to Counter Chinese Ship-killing Missiles
However, despite the carrier-skeptics sounding off, American aircraft carriers are still survivable against the Chinese. The Navy is aware of the dangers of carrier-killing missiles and the potential of China’s naval fighter jets breaking the protective screen to attack a carrier. There are improved combat management systems to keep Xi Jinping’s navy at bay.
American anti-submarine warfare is strong, and there is an excellent protective screen that shields carrier strike groups. A new stealth drone tanker will soon extend the range of U.S. Navy fighters such as the F/A-18 E/F and the F-35C. This means the carriers can stay out of the range of Chinese missiles and fighters and still conduct combat operations.
These Chinese missiles could be over-rated. That doesn’t mean they are to be ignored or soft-pedaled by Navy brass, but the Americans have found ways to counteract the anti-ship projectiles.
New Air Defense Interceptors Will Blunt the Chinese Carrier-killers
First, there is the advent of the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM). This air defense interceptor “rolls as it flies” and has the power and the range to knock out enemy missiles. The Navy wants to bring this system to the forefront when it comes to protecting the fleet against carrier-killers.
The RAM will eventually give naval battle planners and admirals the confidence to overcome China’s Anti-Access/ Area Denial gambit in East Asia. The RAM could stop a Chinese anti-ship missile in its tracks.
To control the RAM, the Navy has what it calls “layered ship defenses” overseen by the Aegis Weapon System, which creates a protective umbrella over a carrier strike group. Enemy missiles would have to make it through the Aegis before hitting paydirt on a flat-top.
The Navy is constantly working to improve this system.
The Growler Is Making Noise
The EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft is one of the most underrated jets in the fleet. This bird can fly out ahead of the carrier and jam and spoof carrier-killers in flight. The carriers keep these airplanes in the skies as much as possible. They are a key part of a layered defense.
Plus, carrier strike groups can stay out of range of DF-26 and DF-21 anti-ship missiles with the advent of the MQ-25 Stingray stealth drone tanker in 2026. While the DF-26 and DF-21 have up to a 2,000-mile radius, the Stingray tanker can re-fuel and extend the range of the Super Hornets and Lightning IIs.
This is a massive development for the Americans. Chinese missiles may not be able to reach a carrier, and the enemy warplanes would have to turn back before they could attack a strike group.
Aircraft Carriers Or Not: Now Is Not the Time to Be Overconfident
The Chinese carrier-killing missiles are still a worry, and they do deny access to certain areas of the Indo-Pacific. For example, a carrier strike group would have to stay out of the Taiwan Strait during warfare between China and Taiwan if the Americans decided to intervene in a conflict between the two nations.
Aircraft carrier operations for the Americans are still dangerous despite the abovementioned improvements. The flat-tops do not have complete freedom of navigation in East Asia. There are no-go areas of the East and South China Sea, but aircraft carriers are not obsolete, and the fear of anti-ship missiles could be over-stated.
The potential combat scenario will be the individual aviators and sailors on each ship and submarine. The U.S. Navy should train its personnel with the warning that they could die on a vessel or in an airplane. Training must be realistic with high stakes.
A new Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) will be appointed soon by President Donald Trump after Admiral Lisa Franchetti was dismissed recently.
This new CNO will come from the aviation branch of the Navy and be a leader who understands carrier warfare. He or she will be up-to-date on the countermeasures a strike group can take against the Chinese and will call for more operations to rehearse the various systems to blunt an attack from Xi Jinping’s missiles.
These projectiles do not have an outsized advantage and can be overcome with new and existing systems.
Chinese and U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers: A Photo Essay
China Aircraft Carrier. Image: Creative Commons.
Image: Chinese Internet.
Image from the now closed WantChinaTimes. This shows a mock attack on a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier.
Chinese Aircraft Carrier. Image: Chinese Internet.
(Dec. 6, 2010) The aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 76) transits the East China Sea. George Washington is participating in Keen Sword 2010 with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force through Dec. 10. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Casey H. Kyhl/Released)
An overhead view of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT ( CVN-71).
About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood
Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.
