Questions like this are always posed in a vacuum, which makes no sense, because modern warships do not operate in a vacuum: 1 carrier vs any conceivable technol

Questions like this are always posed in a vacuum, which makes no sense, because modern warships do not operate in a vacuum: 1 carrier vs any conceivable technology. Military defense strategy isn't all that much different than IT defense strategy. It means using layers of security. If your only defense against missiles is a single missile-defence system, you're probably going down. This ideology is at the core of how how a US Naval Carrier Battle Group works. A carrier battle group (CVBG) is a complex interplay of various types of ships and aircraft with many layers of defense. The idea is to never let your enemy get in a position to execute a fatal attack. If you want to take it further, think of it in Starcraft terms. No one asks, "Is a Terran Battlecruiser a political statement, not a practical asset?" Any reasonably talented Starcraft player knows that you don't send a Battlecruiser in to battle alone [1]. 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox82uAVdUKM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox82uAVdUKM