

air-and-missile defense systems, it explained.Ĭhief of Naval Operations Adm. Anti-ship weapons may be able to speed past interceptors, while their flight paths could exploit seams between current high- and low-altitude U.S. air defenses even if the carrier strike group were operating as far as 1,000 nautical miles from the launch site. The CSBA report warned that the new missiles would significantly lower or negate the effectiveness of U.S. Defenders would therefore have much less time to intercept incoming hypersonic weapons, Callender noted. Traditional cruise missiles can be highly maneuverable, but the air-breathing systems typically fly at subsonic speeds - a small fraction of the velocity that hypersonic boost glide and scramjet missiles could achieve. “In theory, you … can maneuver off its initial ballistic track potentially several hundred miles, a different way” than defenders are expecting. “You can’t predict from its initial boost necessarily where it’s going,” he added. “The big difference between a traditional ballistic missile and these hypersonic boost glides is the trajectory and the ability to maneuver,” said Tom Callender, senior research fellow for naval warfare and advanced technologies at the Heritage Foundation and a former Navy officer.

But hypersonics pose a unique threat compared to traditional ballistic and cruise missiles, analysts say.Īlthough today’s ballistic missiles can achieve hypersonic speeds, they tend to follow a predictable flight path that is easier to track.

Navy’s Carrier Air Wing for Great Power Competition.”Ĭarrier battle groups include ships equipped with advanced air-and-missile defense systems such as Aegis. Navy and the centerpiece of the American fleet,” noted a recent report by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments titled, “Regaining the High Ground at Sea: Transforming the U.S. “Naval aviation has grown during the last century into the primary offensive arm of the U.S. That is a potential scenario the Navy could face in the coming years as Washington and Beijing are locked in great power competition in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.Īircraft carriers are viewed by many as the Navy’s crown jewels. Ford, disabling the aircraft carrier and sending its crew scrambling for their lives. defensive systems, they slam into the hull of the USS Gerald R. The weapons quickly surpass a speed of Mach 5 and maneuver unpredictably toward their target. Identify opponents before choosing attack directions and deciding the sequence of targets and maneuvers.A Chinese bomber flying over the Western Pacific launches hypersonic anti-ship missiles. Target enemy land bases and even their entire fleets. Use intel collected during recon missions to prepare pilots and aircraft for large operations. Will you risk all lives on the vessel to save the one in need? Do you have what it takes to make a decision on the spot? No matter what, some sacrifices will be necessary and the only source of redemption is victory. Make sure that any enemy who dares to attack you will end up in the depths of the Pacific. Use maneuvers, aircraft, anti-aircraft turrets, and whatever else you can to survive the enemy attack. Assess which threats need to be dealt with first in order to survive. Your damage control teams can handle fire outbreaks, torpedo strikes, hull flooding, enemy bombardment, airstrikes, and suicide attacks from enemy planes, but not all of them at once. Your ship has many stations to man, and proper management will be the key to executing your plan, whether by taking on an enemy directly, sneaking past them, or taking an alternative route to completely avoid contact. Remember that your success will depend greatly on your flexibility in managing the available fleet resources.Īssign a crew and choose what your officers should focus on. Give an example of military prowess by choosing the right equipment, crew, and escort for the mission. Take control of the aircraft carrier, its crew, officers and planes during WW2.
