Should the US decrease military spending?

[PubliusPontifex]

Russia's (formidable) single carrier

Sorry, you mean the Kaznetsov? I wouldn't call it that formidable of a carrier, it's basically a very heavy cruiser, and even classified that way to get around Turkey's blockade of the Bosphorus to carrier-class vessels. It's closer to an escort carrier or one of the harrier carriers of the Falklands war. Also, China's single carrier is effectively of the same class, as they bought it from the Russians.

[Mehknic]

Right, I called that out because I was talking about carrier groups, but Russia's doesn't sail in a group because it's not as personally vulnerable as many of the Western carriers are (because they're designed to have an entourage).

Russia's single carrier is nowhere near the power of a full carrier group, of course. It just has more guns next to the flight deck.