[pmulcahy11b]

US carriers were high-value targets that, in the mind of the Soviet military, fully warranted the use of nuclear weapons. The most likely avenue of attack would be by overwhelming amounts of Soviet maritime bombers launching cruise missiles armed with conventional, antiradiation, and nuclear weapons. The Soviets knew their attack subs were, for the most part, too loud to simply slip under US carrier task force defenses, and they didn't have enough of them for overwhelming attacks. They were willing to lose large amounts of maritime bombers on the chance that one or two might get through to kill the carrier. To the Soviets, US carriers were some of the most frightening items in the NATO inventory.