How do long-range escort missiles and mass anti-air warfare change the carrier strike group?
Short answerThey increase magazine demands, but carrier aircraft remain valuable for attack geometry, flexible payloads, and much easier at-sea rearmament.
NotesSurface-launched missiles can reveal their firing unit unless they spend range on a dogleg route, while aircraft can approach from a chosen direction without tying the attack axis to the group's position. A carrier also lets escorts devote more cells to interception because aircraft carry much of the anti-ship strike load. Boxed aviation weapons can be replenished at sea far more routinely than vertical-launch cells. That difference keeps the group in action longer and delays the point at which escorts must leave station to reload.