You'd think something worth tens of billions would have alot more in the way of self-defense weaponry. Why can't we line the decks and catwalks with CWIS, RAM, and ESSM launchers like we used to on our older ships? Surely more is better right?
Aircraft carriers poorly armed?
Because stuff like CIWS is a last resort, a truly desperate final attempt to save a carrier from an odd missile that somehow got through everything else. The cost, effort and capability tradeoff is so much more than the benefits that I'd give you.
this, everyone go home.
>The cost, effort and capability tradeoff is so much more than the benefits that I'd give you.
>40 extra CWIS are too expensive, not worth the cost
>better let the $13,000,000,000 carrier sink
>not worth the effort
>The cost, effort and capability tradeoff is so much more than the benefits that I'd give you.
the cost that could have gone to extra point defense went to area defense instead
namely CAP and AWACS
>40 extra CWIS are too expensive, not worth the cost
they were installed, just dispersed among the carrier and all of its escorts, not just on the carrier
and they work in conjunction with the AA missiles on their escorts, air-launched missiles from their planes, and electronic warfare also from their planes to cover multiple ranges
the cannons are just there to cover the closest range
>not worth the effort
it really isnt, concentrating all your defenses on the terminal approach is less than ideal because these weapons control very little battlespace and have seconds to react to targets
Nobody's suggesting that sort of tradeoff. What OP suggests is that more CIWS on a carrier -- or on anything -- would be cheap and easy.
the cost and effort that could go to lining the entire sides of a carrier with vulcan guns is better spent on having more escorts and more long range interception instead
point-defense only protects the ship its on, so investing in defense there is a much lower priority than investing in defenses that protect a wider area
which is what they did, carriers are more likely to rely on their 24/7 air patrol to catch threats when they are further away rather than on their point-defense, which will catch them only when they are about to hit
Do you have any idea how many GMs you would have to add to the crew to get 40 CIWS operational? Like 90% of their time on a DDG is taken up with keeping 2 running. Imagine 40.
If you don't have guided missile destroyers as escorts for your carrier you are doing it wrong.
Fun fact, Carrier escorts are under orders to block any torpedo headed for the Carrier with their own hulls if necessary.
Because we have something better than deck mounted guns, guided missile destroyers.
The US piled so much defense systems on the carrier that they had to have a separate boat to carry them all. Then they added even more missiles and guns so it ended up with carriers having multiple boats jam packed with missiles and guns following along wherever it sails.
Yeah, it frickin turns out aircraft are fricking huge and require large amounts of fuel to operate. Not to mention require large amounts of space for support equipment, munitions storage and space for aircrew and maintenance personnel.
The self defense of a carrier comes from the battlegroup you frickin newbie.
You lower the lifeboats if you hear the CIWS spinning up.
>You'd think something worth tens of billions would have alot more in the way of self-defense weaponry.
its called CAP
its also called having an escort
>self-defense
it's called the carrier battle group you blibbering nincompoop. why put it on the carrier when you can put it on ships that surround the carrier and give it more space for planes and fuel?
>also they have like, 4x29 shot RAM launchers and 2x8 shot seasparrows, plus decoys, plus fighter wings, plus AWACS planes, plus satellite coverage, plus jammers and towed decoys.
Aircraft carriers are poorly armed, but heavily armoured. A Tomahawk isn't going to pierce the deck of the Gerald Ford, while a carrier's fighter complement can sink whatever launched it trivially.
I'd be more worried about submarines hitting one in the keel with a torpedo.
Not one of these guys are wearing hearing protection. How the frick did they function after they got out?
they had significant hearing loss.
>You'd think something worth tens of billions would have alot more in the way of self-defense weaponry.
It does have billions in self-defense weaponry, namely the rest of the carrier strike group.
If something manages to get close enough to shoot at the CSG without being detected or intercepted, you're probably not dealing with something of terrestial origin.