It's the same thing, if you think of aircraft as missiles. The point is the extension of range. Aircraft can reach out much, much further than a naval gun, and

It's the same thing, if you think of aircraft as missiles. The point is the extension of range. Aircraft can reach out much, much further than a naval gun, and can be used to scout more effectively (many 20th century battleships had aircraft of their own for scouting/fire spotting). Even modern missile-equipped warships are less flexible in some ways than a carrier air wing, though we have yet to see warfare pitting a modern carrier battle group against anti-ship missiles.