U.S. Looks to Boost Sea-Based Missile Defense

The U.S. Defense Department plans eventually to place missile defense systems on 18 cruisers and destroyers, United Press International reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 17).

Three cruisers — the USS Shiloh, USS Lake Erie and USS Port Royal — now carry the Aegis radar for tracking ballistic missiles and Standard Missile 3 interceptors capable of bringing them down.  That equipment is to be placed this year on three more destroyers:  the USS Stethem, USS Decatur and USS Curtis Wilbur, according to the Navy Times.

U.S. Navy spokesman Lt. Tommy Crosby declined to say whether the ships would patrol near North Korea.  “They patrol the Pacific,” he told Navy Times.

A growing concern at the Pentagon is that ballistic or cruise missiles could be fired at the United States from cargo ships parked just outside U.S. territorial waters, UPI reported.  “Capability gaps” in the defense against cruise missiles might not be fully addressed until 2015, according to InsideDefense.com (Martin Sieff, United Press International, Aug. 22).

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