The main problem with taking out carriers is figuring out where they are. In a war between major powers, satellites will be shot down almost immediately (their

The main problem with taking out carriers is figuring out where they are. In a war between major powers, satellites will be shot down almost immediately (their trajectories are very predictable). ASW ships and helicopters of a carrier group can make it very difficult for a submarine to get close enough. You can't just fire a ballistic missile, even with a thermonuclear warhead, at the last known location. By the time it gets there, the carrier group will already be outside the blast radius.