Indeed. If we are as reliant on aircraft carriers strategically as it appears we are (ie, a carrier group sent off at every crisis) it could very likely prove to be our Achilles heel. I doubt they are as defensible as we wish them to be.
“I doubt they are as defensible as we wish them to be.”
Every “nuke puke” (submariner) I ever knew, quite a few, had a story about how they “killed” a carrier during war games and it got rescored later as just a bit of damage.
Having some exposure to military politics, I can say that the sacred cows never get harmed. But, they’re not so sacred to our enemies.