U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers Have A Range Problem It May Not Be Able To Fix — And China Is Betting Everything On It

U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers Have A Range Problem It May Not Be Able To Fix — And China Is Betting Everything On It

The aircraft carrier exists to project power from a safe distance, and in the Western Pacific, that premise no longer holds. China’s anti-ship missiles now reach farther than the carrier’s aircraft can fly, which means that to get its jets within striking range of a defended target, a carrier has to sail inside the missile envelope first. The ship designed to strike from beyond reach has to enter the danger zone to do its job. That is a geometry…