A CV by itself may not seem like a good platform, but consider this. Each American CV(N) is carrying around 90 combat aircraft capable of neutralizing most targets within their range. Those targets that are out of range of these aircraft still have to contend with the carrier’s escorts, which usually consist of one or two guided missile cruisers, two to three guided missile destroyers and one or two nuclear submarines. I don’t know if modern carrier battlegroups stil contain an anti-submarine frigate or not, but the central point remains the same. Attacking a modern carrier is nearly suicidal unless you do so with massive numbers of weapon systems.
Carriers are still large targets, but not nearly as easily destroyed as you seem to think. There’s been several times in the past that the Carrier has been written off as obsolete because of submarines and missiles, but they’re still here.
People still discount the carrier’s strike power. The F/A-18E/F can fly hundreds of miles from the carrier and launch missiles with ranges from 90+ miles to take out ships.
That said, our carrier air wings are not what they were just 25 years ago. The number of aircraft is down from that 90-aircraft figure to closer to 70. In air-to-air combat, the US Navy no longer can claim the type of dominance it had when it had F-14D Super Tomcats on board. The Super Hornet does not compare favorably to the Super Tomcat in most measures of performance, especially combat radius. The latest Sukhois are a match for the performance of the Super Hornet and the USN only enjoys superiority due to the quality of naval aviators.
This is unfair to those naval aviators and could put them in the same position as their predecessors who had to fly against the Japanese Zero in the F4F Wildcat at the outset of WWII...