i expected at least one of these four SSGN's to show up there soon. The more Tomahawks arrive on the scene, the more credible the threat to North Korea's air defenses becomes. What makes the Michigan even more threatening in that regard is that North Korea cannot track it. That means it could suddenly launch the 154 Tomahawks it is capable of carrying from a point fairly close to shore, giving the targets very little time to react. It will be interesting to see if any B-2's are flown from Missouri to bases closer to Korea, because that bomber would also be certain to play an important part in any attack on North Korea's air defenses. F-22's which are close to North Korea also would play a role in any such attack.
The exact numbers have not been made public, but a sudden air attack to destroy North Korea's nuclear and missile facilities and to reduce its air defenses could easily include as many as 60-80 targets and 800-1,000 guided weapons. The Vinson strike group includes just one cruiser and two destroyers, and its deployment has already been extended. That makes it reasonable to expect that the Nimitz and Reagan groups will sail to Korea to replace it, and that they will include more cruisers, destroyers, and attack submarines than usual.
Two carrier strike groups, assuming they contained a total of two or three cruisers, seven or eight destroyers, and two or three attack submarines could easily, when combined with Michigan, place more than 500 Tomahawks within range of any target in North Korea while still maintaining a very strong defense for the fleet against aircraft, ships, or subs. B-2's, F-22's, and possibly missiles launched at long distance from other aircraft could make up the remaining several hundred guided weapons required for this sort of "decapitation" attack. Even if Kim Jong Un himself does not understand how severely a sudden attack like that would limit North Korea's ability to defend its military forces, let alone use them offensively, surely his generals understand it very well.
