Once upon a time, the battleship was the principle capital ship of navies. The battleship was armored, equipped with 14" to 18" guns, and could rain death and destruction on targets 20-25 miles away. But then, the aircraft carrier took the place of the battleship, due to being able to hit targets out to the maximum range of the aircraft it carried (the strike radius for modern carrier-based fighter-bombers is about 1,500 miles). Thus, the floating gun platform idea was replaced by the floating airbase idea. The Falklands War showed the vulnerability of surface vessels to land-based anti-ship missiles, such as the Exocet. The Chinese have long been improving the range of their Silkworm anti-ship missiles.To the point where they can reach surface ships in excess of 1,500 miles away. The Iranians also have Silkworm missiles (albeit older models). I have long predicted that in a US-Iranian War, the American Navy might very well lose a surface ship, or two, to the Iranian Silkworms. And this would be a big blow to the US Navy's ego. As it is confident in the effectiveness of its screens of guided missile frigates and destroyers, which are supposed to keep incoming missiles and aircraft away from their aircraft carriers. Aircraft carriers will continue to be the principle capital ships of navies, at least for awhile. And the arms race will continue, as each country seeks to develop the 'longer arm'. This goes back into pre-history. One monkey clobbers another monkey with his fist. The other monkey invents a club, that out-ranges his antagonist's fist. The other monkey picks up a rock, and throws it from well outside the range of the club. Then, his adversary invents the slingshot. And on it goes...