> surface combatants are all going to end up under water very very quickly, or too far from the action to offer anything useful.
In a shooting war between the US and China, the US will try to establish air and sea dominance. That means in the first days or weeks of the war, it would keep away its vulnerable assets, such as non-stealth aircraft, or surface vessels that are not part of carrier strike groups. It would make use of stealth fighters and bombers, cruise missiles, and in the sea domain, submarines and carrier strike groups.
After dominance is established, all the other assets become very valuable.
In a shooting war between the US and China, the US will try to establish air and sea dominance. That means in the first days or weeks of the war, it would keep away its vulnerable assets, such as non-stealth aircraft, or surface vessels that are not part of carrier strike groups. It would make use of stealth fighters and bombers, cruise missiles, and in the sea domain, submarines and carrier strike groups.
After dominance is established, all the other assets become very valuable.