Pentagon studies China's hypersonic plan to defeat US carriers

The Pentagon’s leaked “Overmatch Brief” reveals that China’s military poses a significant threat to the US Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier strike groups, including the Gerald R. Ford-class carriers. Based on computer simulations, the assessment concludes that China could neutralize or sink these carriers through a multifaceted campaign combining ballistic and hypersonic missiles, cyberattacks, and anti-satellite operations. Chinese attacks on US satellites would degrade American targeting, communication, and navigation capabilities, leaving carrier groups vulnerable to coordinated missile salvos from land, sea, and air platforms. China’s missile arsenal includes up to 600 hypersonic missiles capable of high-speed, maneuverable flight, making interception extremely difficult. The brief highlights the complementary nature of China’s missile forces, where large numbers of lower-cost missiles saturate defenses while advanced systems penetrate them to deliver decisive strikes. This layered threat, supported by targeting data from satellites, radars, and unmanned aircraft, creates overlapping engagement zones that increase the likelihood of