Comments by "Winston Smith" (@kryts27) on "Is the Navy’s $13 Billion Aircraft Carrier Obsolete?" video.

  1. What traditionally kills carriers? Combat aircraft (usually from other carriers) and submarines. The traditional battleship has never sunk a carrier (baby flattops in the Battle of Leyte Gulf excepted), wheras carriers have sunk many battleships. As a fleet engagement capital ship, probably there still remains nothing more powerful at sea than fleet super-carriers. It engages mutiple targets at once, for example, exemplifying huge conventional destructive power (to other ships and submarines). One anti-ship missile hit is unlikely to sink a huge Gerald R Ford class carrier either. Damage it? Yes. Sink it? Unlikely.
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  2. I don't think the USN sends 5000 dedicated and professional carrier crews and combat pilots to sea so that they can be sunk in 5 minutes. There is no.more powerful ship at sea than a carrier, period. Build all the nuclear subs that you can, you still can't rule the waves over a carrier task force. Also, think how many surface and underwater sensors are looking for you in that nuclear sub? If you're an enemy sub and a trained ASW carrier fleet is bearing down on you, i think your hours left alive are very short numbered. I would tremble as a crew member of that submarine.
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