[PvK]

Modern aircraft are not really armored - bullets will damage them... if they ever get hit.

Damage potential in the Final Countdown scenario would mainly be limited by lack of resupply, I would think... I wonder though if say the CVN sailed into Pearl Harbour before they figured out the date and the Jap strike hit just then with hundreds of planes, if the CVN could scramble and intercept quickly enough to avoid getting torpedoed.

PvK