Carrier defence against drones and missiles

Will carriers become easy targets when their escorts exhaust expensive missiles against cheap drones?

Long-range drones capable of reaching a moving carrier are more expensive than the miniature systems invoked in swarm arguments. Larger missile orders, adequate stockpiles, and complementary defensive systems are proposed as ways to improve defensive endurance.

The small drones often invoked in swarm scenarios lack the range to threaten a carrier operating hundreds of nautical miles offshore. Weapons that can cover that distance are larger and more expensive than the cheap systems used as the comparison point. Most Houthi threats had been dealt with in this account, while the weapons that got through exposed the difficulty of intercepting missiles crossing a ship's bearing without airborne early warning. Taking a carrier through a confined coastal chokepoint such as the Strait of Hormuz during a war with Iran would expose it to a dense attack and squander its mobility. A carrier can maneuver between satellite observations and launch aircraft from beyond the defender's short-range reach. Larger missile orders and stockpiles are proposed to improve defensive endurance and reduce unit cost. Missiles, electronic warfare, and lasers form the proposed combination of defensive systems.