[tanknetter]

Nav-Air also comes into play,,,

Yup. People need to remember that the USN operates a layered defense, with Aegis/SM as the middle layer in most cases. In an environment where an enemy could possible saturate Aegis, there WILL be a carrier involved. So inbound aircraft and cruise missiles would first have to penetrate the CAP: F/A-18s with AIM-120 AMRAAMs. Then Aegis gets to take a crack at them, followed by Sea Sparrow, RAM and finally Phalanx/RBOC ... with ECM operating pretty much throughout (EA-6Bs/EA-18Gs then ship-borne).

Ballistic missiles are a different story, countermeasures put more of an emphasis on Aegis to hit an inbound. Then again, the ability of a ballistic missile to hit a maneuvering warship or strike group at sea isn't all that great.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

Hey,there,,,Great post,,,

I guess most folks don’t understand the range of these weapons,,,

And the point that a Carrier Strike Group covers a 1,000 miles of ocean...

[Tallguy]

It’s not a given that a carrier will be around when the shooting starts. It may well be that the USN will keep their carriers well away from a high threat environmnent until the situation ‘develops’ — particularly if there are enemy subs lurking.

In that situation your Aegis/SM system becomes your outer-most defensive layer.