[Bidimus1]

A simple comparison by class title (frigate, cruiser, attack boat etc..) is nearly useless even comparing Destroyers in the US Navy is almost pointless

Example Compare

Spurance Class - used till 2005
Arleigh Burke - Main DD in n service

Just to make things more confusing the Ticonderoga class cruiser was originally going to be a DD, as it shares the basic hull as the Spurance

Compare US CVNs to ANY Carrier by any other nation.

[JasonC]

Sure. To "rate" surface ships, count vertical launched SAMs (122 on a US cruiser). You can separately count SSMs, but frankly any SSM platform without serious SAM cover to take out incoming missiles will never live long enough in combat to deliver its missiles to launch range, unless covered by a SAM umbrella from other ships with vertical launched SAMs.

The total single salvo "throw" of SAMs from the Chinese surface navy is 336 missiles, and 192 of those come from a handful of their best Russian-built destroyers. Which are approximately equal to the US "Kidd" class of mid 1980s vintage. The next 57 Chinese surface combatants combined have only 144 SAMs throw, some carrying none, some a single 6 or 8 tube launcher. The whole fleet has 358 SSMs full salvo to throw.

22 US CAGs and 55 US DDGs have between them a SAM throw of 7634 missiles, carrying 90 or 122 per ship. A surface action group with 4 combatants could shoot a full Chinese navy salvo out of the sky with one SAM salvo from 4 Aegis air defense ships.

These are flexible launchers that can carry Standard II or III (primary mission air defense, but can also engage smaller sea-surface targets), or harpoon to shoot at full sized ships with full sized warheads, or tomahawk to shoot at land targets.

A quarter of the US surface navy firing a full salvo could put 1900 missiles inbound at a Chinese fleet that can only intercept less than 20% of them, even if they can get every outgoing missile to hit, which they won't with their software and sensor systems (especially the older SAMs on everything but the top 4 DDGs).

That's if the US SSNs or up to 800 carrier aircraft don't take out those 4 DDGs first. If they do, the rest of the Chinese navy are nothing but targets; there is no SAM umbrella to overload and burn through in the first place, once those 4 ships are out of action.

Thus my comment, "not in our weight class". Leave aside the technical edge; they just can't shoot enough missiles to burn through our SAM umbrella, while we can hopelessly overload theirs without breaking a sweat.