Missile Defense Becomes A Navy Mission
Forbes (Blog)
by Loren Thompson
March 21, 2011
Earlier this month, the cruiser USS Monterey entered the Mediterranean Sea on a new mission. The Monterey was built three decades ago at the Bath Iron Works in Maine, but it is equipped with an improved version of Lockheed Martin’s Aegis combat system that enables it to intercept the kinds of ballistic missiles Iran’s radical Islamic government has been developing. Once on station, it will be the first visible manifestation of the Obama Administration’s commitment to defend local allies against attacks by those missiles. Other warships will follow, and then a newer version of the Aegis system will be deployed ashore in Eastern Europe. The U.S. Navy will thus become the lead service in implementing America’s missile defense strategy — a development few observers could have predicted a decade ago.
The March arrival of the Monterey in the eastern Med is a good time to take stock of how the U.S. missile defense program has changed over time, and consider the way in which changing threats and technologies have transformed the role of the Navy in missile defense from that of a disinterested bystander to a key player. Although critics sometimes question the value of having a globally deployed fleet of warships, missile defense is one area where forward presence and unfettered mobility have proven to be increasingly important. …
Read on: http://blogs.forbes.com/beltway/2011/03/21/missile-defense-becomes-a-navy-mission
