has anybody taken into account the US Naval Air Force. The Navy always had at least one carrier battle group in the Med and severall more within several days’ sailing from the European mainland. Also, let’s not forget that the CAGs were equipped with (arguably) the best air superiority fighter of the time, the F-14 Tomcat. This beast was armed with the longest ranged AAM on the planet Earth, and had suffecient range to operate from the carriers, fly to the mainland, do a CAP mission, and return.

Also, the idea behind the battle group is to move in close enough to strike, luanch the strike package, retrieve the aircraft and move away. The F-14s would cover the F/A-18As, A-6Ds, and the A-7s while the bombed the enemy target, then they would all head back to sea to and land. This is a very good method for taking out enemy targets but not giving the enemy a definite target too strike back at, like an airfield.

And contrary to some people’s opinion, a carrier is hard to sink. The battle group is brisitling with CIWS gun systems and missile systems.

The carrier would be a definite factor in determining the winner.