I was one of the original crew members on board the U.S.S Nimitz. At the time the movie was filmed (1980) the Nimitz had yet to sail in the Pacific Ocean. (she was in the Atlantic) The scenes with the ship tied up along a pier in "Hawaii" are really Norfolk Virginia. LOL As far as defense, the ship has radar control high speed gatlin guns designed to shoot down incoming missiles, plus surface to air missiles to shot down super sonic jets. All U.S. carriers have a prop driven version of AWACS planes aboard. They let the carrier "see" for thousands of square miles. Not to mention a fighter wing of it's own jets. Zeros wouldn't be much more than target practice.
As far as defense, the ship has radar control high speed gatlin guns designed to shoot down incoming missiles, plus surface to air missiles to shot down super sonic jets. All U.S. carriers have a prop driven version of AWACS planes aboard. They let the carrier "see" for thousands of square miles. Not to mention a fighter wing of it's own jets. Zeros wouldn't be much more than target practice.