Once nukes are used, the exchange almost certainly escalates, and those in power on both sides lose (along with many millions of their people). I don’t think either China or Russia wants to go nuclear against us or against each other, and a conventional supercavitating torpedo still has to hit. That technology is not decisive in the carrier battle because you have to get within range not just to shoot but to shoot accurately, i.e., within ten miles. My money is still on the carrier battle group (including cruisers and destroyers with air defense capabilities and one or more SSN escorts).
The supercavitating torpedo is one of those weapons that will likely never live up to it’s reputation. Because the ‘torpedo’ is a literally a rocket that flies underwater inside a small ‘bubble’ of air that it self-creates there can be no sensor interface through the air/water interface. IOW’s it’s a straight-line weapon unlike, say, a MK 48 ADCAP torpedo that has terminal guidance. If the target evades, the ADCAP adapts. The supercavitating Skval can’t do that. I think the Skval is essentially an “F-U” weapon that is designed to force a break in contact so that a Typhoon can escape it’s pursuing SSN. If you hit, great. If not at least the Typhoon has a chance to do something evasive while the US/Brit SSN is busy dodging the Skval.
“That technology is not decisive in the carrier battle because you have to get within range not just to shoot but to shoot accurately, i.e., within ten miles. My money is still on the carrier battle group (including cruisers and destroyers with air defense capabilities and one or more SSN escorts).”
You should read about Sunburn missiles.
The warheads come in around Mach 3.