How to Lose A Carrier Strike Group in An Afternoon, by William Schryver

Think a U.S. aircraft carrier group is invincible? it’s not. From William Schryver at imetatronink.substack.com:

USS Ronald Reagan

Imagine a scenario where China, for whatever reason, announces a “no warships allowed” closure of the Taiwan Strait. It’s not an implausible scenario at all. The Chinese have spoken openly of the possibility. They regard the entirety of the strait as their sovereign waters, and assert the right to exercise control over them.

Now imagine a US carrier strike group is commanded to challenge the blockade in order to assert what the empire regards as “freedom of navigation” through what the “rules-based international order” defines as international waters.

Then imagine the distinct possibility of a perceived provocation that escalates to a limited engagement that escalates into a launch of the carrier’s air wing and then escalates to the launch of a mixed-salvo of 500+ Chinese kamikaze drones and anti-ship missiles, plus a full complement of ECCM jammers and a couple hundred decoys.

The stocks of long-range SM-6 missiles on the cruiser and destroyers would be exhausted long before the Chinese missiles stopped coming.

Short-range defense systems would deplete their ammunition in a matter of minutes.

Every ship in the flotilla would then be sunk or severely damaged — as it were in the blink of an eye.

Continue reading