After World War II, aircraft carriers replaced battleships as the new maritime hegemon. The carrier's over-the-horizon detection and attack capabilities make its enemies have nowhere to hide. However, no matter how powerful the weapon is, there are also nemesis to restrain it. In the century-long development of aircraft carriers, there are always five nemesis.
The Fifth Nemesis of Aircraft Carrier: Ballistic Missile
Theoretically speaking, ballistic missiles are still very advantageous in attacking aircraft carriers. Because ballistic missiles have a long range and the trajectory is a quadratic function curve, they can attack from directly above the aircraft carrier. In addition, ballistic missiles are very fast, and the terminal speed can exceed Mach 5, which makes interception very difficult. Once an aircraft carrier is hit by a ballistic missile, it will be hit hard.
However, using ballistic missiles to attack aircraft carriers also has defects. Aircraft carrier is a moving target, and its trajectory is uncertain. Therefore, the missile needs to constantly correct the flight orbit parameters to hit. Therefore, although it sounds beautiful to hit an aircraft carrier with ballistic missiles, the actual effect cannot be evaluated.
The fourth nemesis of aircraft carrier: anti-ship missile
As early as the war between Britain and Oman, the Argentine navy sank the British cruiser with flying fish anti-ship missiles. This caused a sensation at that time, and many people imagined that if the anti-ship missile hit the aircraft carrier, it would be hit hard. In addition, the range of anti-ship missiles exceeds 100 km. This kind of weapon can attack outside the carrier strike circle and seems to be much safer.
However, this is only people's imagination, because there is no actual case of anti-ship missiles hitting aircraft carriers. Moreover, the aircraft carrier is equipped with a complete short-range defense system and missile interception system, and it is difficult for anti-ship missiles to break through these systems.
The third nemesis of aircraft carrier: submarine
Unlike ballistic missiles and anti-ship missiles attacking aircraft carriers on the water, submarines attack from underwater. It's hard to find, so it's easier to succeed.
In the battle of midway, the American submarine Nautilus broke through the defense circle of the Japanese carrier Akashi, and almost sank the Akashi with a torpedo. This is enough to show how much the submarine threatens the aircraft carrier. Conventional power submarines can dive to a depth of 400 meters and have self-sustaining power for more than two weeks. They will pose a greater threat to the aircraft carrier.
The second nemesis of aircraft carrier: jellyfish
Just as fighter planes are afraid of birds, shellfish are also very harmful to aircraft carriers. It was previously reported that the bottom of the warship was attached by shellfish, which caused the speed to slow down and the maneuverability to decrease. The aircraft carrier is driving in the ocean, and the most feared thing is not shellfish, but jellyfish. Jellyfish is an invertebrate that can enter the drain or other parts of an aircraft carrier. It leads to pipeline blockage. Once jellyfish blocks the cooling pipeline of the gas turbine, the gas turbine will overheat and fail.
In the end, the aircraft carrier was paralyzed. In the history of aircraft carrier development, there are many similar incidents. This happened to American aircraft carriers on their way to Australia. In the end, the visit was cancelled and the aircraft carrier had to return to the United States. After returning to the United States, the US military spent tens of millions cleaning the cooling pipes of gas turbines. This is also the most important loss suffered by American aircraft carriers after World War II.
The first nemesis of aircraft carrier: another aircraft carrier
There is a famous saying in the history of war: "The best weapon against tanks is tanks", and the best weapon against aircraft carriers is the aircraft carriers themselves. In the naval battle of midway, the American and Japanese aircraft carriers fought in the waters of midway. During this period, four Japanese aircraft carriers were sunk and one American aircraft carrier suffered heavy losses. If you count the Coral Sea battle, the USS Lexington sank. It was just a midway sea battle, and both sides sank five aircraft carriers.
So this should also prove that the aircraft carrier nemesis is its own statement. In fact, the best reason to use an aircraft carrier is because it has the ability to attack beyond the line of sight, which other marine weapons do not have. Therefore, only another aircraft carrier can attack the opponent without seeing it.