Djole 🇷🇸

This event reopened the question of the effectiveness and future utility of traditional aircraft carriers in modern warfare, especially when faced with increasingly advanced missile technologies. Oreshnik demonstrated the power of the "saturation effect" - a precise strike aimed at a wide area, whereby the target becomes almost impossible to defend. 👇

As the National Interest writes, the attack on the Juzhmash factory, which covers more than 2.87 square miles, showed that Oreshnik is not only accurate but also devastatingly effective. The missile, which reaches speeds between Mach 10 and Mach 11 (7,610–8,450 mph), does not require absolute precision to neutralize a target like an aircraft carrier. 👇

By comparison, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, with a top speed of 30 knots (34.5 mph), cannot even theoretically outrun a missile of this speed. Hypersonic missiles do not need to sink an aircraft carrier; enough to damage it to the point of inoperability, forcing it to retire for repairs. 👇

The relative cost aspect further complicates the justification for further production of aircraft carriers. It is estimated that the production cost of the Oreshnik missile is similar to the Russian Yars ICBM missile, which in 2011 cost about 30 million dollars, which in 2023 is about 40.3 million dollars. 👇

On the other hand, the cost of building one Nimitz-class aircraft carrier ranges from 6.2 to 11.2 billion dollars. This means that Russia can produce between 154 and 278 Oreshnik missiles for every US aircraft carrier, which clearly shows the economic unsustainability of large ships in this scenario.