Aircraft Carriers Are Sitting Ducks

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16. The Cm-302 Chinese missile can fly 5 to 10 meters from the water, it skims over the water.

Technical Architecture of the CM-302: Supersonic Speed, Sea-Skimming Profile, and Defensive Compression
The CM-302, marketed by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation as one of the world’s premier anti-ship weapons, is the export derivative of the YJ-12 system and is designed explicitly to neutralize large surface combatants, including destroyers and aircraft carriers, through high-velocity terminal engagement.

With a reported operational range of approximately 280–290 kilometers, the missile enables standoff launches from coastal batteries, surface vessels, or aircraft, reducing platform exposure while extending Iran’s effective maritime denial perimeter beyond previously subsonic engagement envelopes.

Its propulsion architecture combines a solid rocket booster for initial acceleration with a liquid ramjet engine for sustained supersonic cruise, generating speeds estimated between Mach 2.5 and Mach 4, thereby compressing defensive reaction windows for targeted vessels to mere minutes.

The missile’s sea-skimming flight profile, reportedly descending to altitudes as low as 5–10 meters above the wave surface, exploits radar horizon limitations and sea clutter interference, complicating early detection and reducing engagement time for shipborne interception systems.

Mid-course data-link updates and terminal active radar guidance, supported by BeiDou satellite navigation, enhance targeting precision and resistance to electronic countermeasures, increasing the probability of successful penetration against layered naval defense architectures.

The CM-302’s warhead, reportedly weighing between 250 and 500 kilograms, carries sufficient destructive yield to inflict catastrophic damage on vessels displacing up to 5,000 tons, raising credible survivability concerns for modern destroyers operating within contested proximity.

CASIC promotes the system as capable of neutralizing high-value naval assets, including aircraft carriers, a marketing assertion that directly intersects with US carrier strike group doctrine, where layered defense and distributed lethality depend on early detection and extended engagement depth.

In Iranian service, integration of a supersonic missile with these characteristics would address a historical gap in Tehran’s anti-ship arsenal, which has largely relied on subsonic systems such as the Ghadir and Noor, thereby shifting from saturation-based harassment toward high-velocity precision disruption.