Six U.S. Destroyers to Monitor Missile Launches

Radar and computer signal processing systems on six U.S. Aegis-class destroyers are being modified to allow the ships to track potential North Korean missile launches, Bloomberg news reported yesterday (see GSN, July 8).

The destroyers will begin rotating one-ship patrols of the Sea of Japan in September. Information collected by the ships’ systems would be relayed to missile interceptors on the ships in the event of the launch of a medium or long-range missile, Bloomberg reported.

“Having them way up forward means you can track the target longer and the more information you have the better if you have to take a shot,” said Chris Myers, vice president of sea-based missile defense programs for contractor Lockheed Martin.

Even with the ship modifications, the United States “will be in no position to knock those missiles down even after `initial defensive operations,’” said arms-control advocate John Isaacs, president of the Council for a Livable World (Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg, July 15).

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