May 1, 2006 :: Defense News :: News
The threat of attack from cruise missiles launched from commercial ships is becoming a “front burner issue” in Washington, according to Ben Stubenberg, chief of analysis and scenarios at MDA. At a recent conference in Virginia, Stubenberg said that ship-launched cruise missiles offer potential adversaries “great strength at a low cost,” similar to improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used by insurgents in Iraq. Nearly 1,000 commercial vessels sail within 200 nautical miles of the U.S. coast every day, and the potential for a rogue vessel to slip in unnoticed remains “high.” Stubenberg offered a hypothetical example: A enemy ship could depart from a small port in Southeast Asia, one of nearly 11,000 ports not rigorously monitored, and head across the Pacific Ocean to Ensenada, a small port in Mexico. From there, the enemy ship would be in missile range of downtown Los Angeles, which currently has no means of defense against such an attack. Stubenberg offered three possible solutions: deploy of a coastal network of sensors and interceptors to shoot down missiles, strengthen intelligence to allow rogue vessels to be taken down before they reach U.S. shores, and expand U.S. missile defense capabilities.
The ship-launched cruise missile threat was first identified by the 1998 Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States, also known as the Rumsfeld Commission. The initiative was placed on the “back burner” for some time, but has now assumed greater importance with Congress requesting more studies and MDA showing greater interest. (Article)
» More stories on: Cruise Missile Defenses, Ship-Launched Threat
