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Well, i hope that you are right. And you may be since the latest data i have concerning sunburn vs Aegis destroyers pertained to Aegis ships we had given to the Japanese and the Taiwanese (data dated 2002). The most recent US Aegis data i have was for 2000. Hence maybe US ships have 'evolved' beyond the Sunburn threat (and maybe even the Yakhont ....although i have doubts about evolving past the Yakhont since Rumsfeld mentioned it as a specifically major threat due to its low radar signature just last year), and in any case if i were a naval captain i would not rest easy if my ship could not tackle missile systems like the Sunburn (tackling stuff like the Exocet is pretty simple for any ship with a respectable slaved-tracking radar and gattling gun system ...even harpoons can be splattered! However sunburns would worry me and i would strive to ensure something was done about such a threat). Hence if i feel that way i am sure US of A Naval captains must have been feeling even greater pressure. It would be ludicrous for them to ignore such a threat (although to be honest with you i do not understand why Clinton did what he did! Maybe you can give me an concrete answer on that one because it just does not make sense)

Anyways i guess just as US f-16s are better than export F-16s then US Aegis destroyers must be better than their Japanese and Taiwanese counterparts (which even at the end of 2002 were totally susceptible to the sunburn and were being 'sunk' in war models by small cheap gunboats armed with a couple of missiles from over a hundred miles away). That it is possible our Aegis system packs stuff their Aegis ships lack. Actually that is a virtual given!

However let me ask you another question (the first was why in goodness name Clinton cancelled the Vandal). How would an Aegis Destroyer handle 24 SunBurn missiles coming at it at a 'ripple pattern' at the same time when all it takes to sink or cripple the ship is one and a half sunburns? The reason i am saying 24 is because a 3-pack Chinese gunboat squad operating from base can launch 8 missiles each simultaneously (from a maximum range of 250km) and the missiles would assume the ripple flight pattern and i really do not see how a ship could tackle 4 sunburns let alone 24. And the Chinese stratagem is to deploy as many of the missiles forward and basically saturate the skies with them (with the flight program of the missile being the 'pack hunt' mode where they fly as a squall). This si the same reason the Chicomms have been also getting the air-launched version.

How cant he Aegis system take care of a saturated attack?

How would an Aegis Destroyer handle 24 SunBurn missiles coming at it at a 'ripple pattern' at the same time when all it takes to sink or cripple the ship is one and a half sunburns? The reason i am saying 24 is because a 3-pack Chinese gunboat squad operating from base can launch 8 missiles each simultaneously (from a maximum range of 250km) and the missiles would assume the ripple flight pattern and i really do not see how a ship could tackle 4 sunburns let alone 24.

You're making some incredibly questionable assumptions here. First assumption is that the ChiComs can salvo off 24 Sunburns at once--they only have a few ships that can shoot the thing, after all, and they only have a total of 48 missiles in inventory, and CANNOT afford to fire them at 250km range, as any track will NOT be confirmed as valid. But we'll assume the ChiComs are stupid.

One scenario: Chinese lob their entire load of Sunburns, to discover that they blew away some inexpensive decoys that radiated SPY-1 signals and had corner reflectors installed. No need for defensive fires.

Chinese forces are now effectively disarmed and can be sunk at leisure.

Another scenario: US 688I puts a torpedo into the ChiCom Sunburn platform. Dubya calls whichever idiot's in charge in Beijing and says, "Gosh, your sailors oughta be more careful handling explosives!"

Third scenario: Aegis goes into full-auto mode on detection of high-speed, constant-bearing, decreasing-range targets. (and with CEC, targets will be detected as soon as they come off of the launchers.) Standard Block IV missiles reach out and engage missiles while they are still over the horizon from the targeted ship, guided by sensors that have a good view of the missiles. Director limits on the Aegis ship do not apply in this scenario. Missiles get splashed long before they get to target.