Which is why in all the techno thrillers, while the Soviet Backfire force generally gets some shots in early, they are then all but annihilated and that's all she wrote.
Like the well known "Dance of the Vampires" from "Red Storm Rising".
And it is not just a "story for a book", the authors (Tom Clancy and Larry Bond) were already known in both the military and gaming community for their naval knowledge. And they gamed the scenario (WWIII in the Atlantic) multiple times, with actual DoD and Naval Personnel to make sure the scenario would work as they imagined. Almost every single battle in that book was gamed out with real Naval Experts.
And in their real games, 2 times out of 3 the US-Allied force realized what was coming and reacted to prevent the destruction of the French carrier Foch. Only in one was the attack successful. But that was the direction they wanted the story to go, so that was how they wrote it in the book. But the loss of those bombers was also a significant blow to the Red Air Force as it crippled their options in other areas.
And the result of almost each one was matched in what the Soviets thought when they talked to them after the USSR dissolved. That the Soviets could take out quite a bit of military hardware, but in exchange for a significant portion of their bomber fleet. A bomber fleet that was many times more than what Russia has today.
Hence, why I mentioned "Midway". The Japanese learned that even with equal losses (or slightly higher US losses compared to theirs), they would lose. Tactically, strategically, and logistically the US is the "deepest" military in the world. It is not the largest, or best. But as Japan learned, going against such an opponent is almost impossible because they can take the losses without a problem.
And this can be seen in another battles. The Battle of the Coral Sea was a Japanese Tactical Victory. They sunk the USS Lexington, and only lost a light carrier Zuikaku. However, strategically it was an Allied Victory, as the US could much more afford the ships lost than Japan could. And it forced the Japanese to abort the attack on Port Moresby.
After that battle Japan grew more desperate, which ultimately resulted in Midway. And they could never recover from that lost, and their empire shrunk smaller and smaller after that.
Like a Featherweight boxer going against a Heavyweight. He may get some points in during the early rounds, but it only takes a few of the hard hits to put him on the canvas.
en.wikipedia.org
aerocorner.com
