I believe Hegseth may have been taken out of context.
From Grok:
Yes, Pete Hegseth did make a statement along those lines, though it’s a hypothetical scenario he described based on U.S. military assessments rather than a literal prediction. In a November 2024 interview on The Shawn Ryan Show (before he became U.S. Secretary of Defense in early 2025), Hegseth warned about China’s military buildup, specifically saying: “If 15 hypersonic missiles can take out our 10 aircraft carriers in the first 20 minutes of a conflict, what does that look like?” He framed this as part of broader concerns, noting that the U.S. “loses to China in every war game” run by the Pentagon and that China is “building an army specifically designed to defeat the United States.”
The comment resurfaced in April 2025 amid reports on U.S.-China tensions, leading to headlines like “China could sink entire US carrier fleet in 20 minutes” from outlets such as Interesting Engineering, Yahoo News, and The Washington Times.
It drew responses, including from China’s Defense Ministry, which praised its hypersonic tech like the DF-17 and YJ-21 missiles, while U.S. experts debated the 20-minute timeline as an exaggeration—though the overall threat to carriers from China’s anti-ship hypersonics (speeds over Mach 5, hard to intercept) is seen as real.
The U.S. Navy is countering this with developments like high-energy lasers (e.g., HELCAP) and other defenses, but Hegseth’s point underscores the urgency of adapting to peer-level threats.