[Steel_Tomb]

I remember reading that a South African diesel sub managed to "sink" a US carrier in exercises without being detected by the escorts. The Iranians have Skyval (sp?) am I correct, I honestly can't see a viable deterrent against such a fast weapon for the moment. In a narrow straight like the Gulf a carrier is a very vulnerable asset, but subs are in shallow water there so any aicraft with MAD's can pick them up no matter how quiet they are.

Remeber in Red Storm Rising the USS Enterprise gets its arse kicked by a squadron of Bears after they go chasing decoys. Carriers are good for peacetime, but in war against a well equiped foe I quite seriously doubt the ability of them to survive a sustained attack, especially against say multiple submerged contacts.