Crazy idea or workable? You decide. Here's What You Need to Remember: Long-range sensors and missile guidance systems have vastly improved since 1962. Spy satellites no longer send back their information in parachute-equipped capsules retrieved in mid-air, but instead transmit targeting data to missile batteries instantly. It’s harder now for a ship to remain undetected at sea. China's development of anti-ship ballistic missiles has raised fears that U.S. aircraft carriers are in mortal danger. By using converted intermediate-range ballistic missiles, originally designed to carry nuclear warheads to destroy cities, China might sink U.S. carriers from 1,000 or even 2,000 miles away.