US Admiral Advocates Ship Based Missile Defense

The US Navy’s top officer has advocated that the Pentagon broaden its missile defense systems to include ship-launched interceptors, the Washington Post reported Monday.

In a confidential memo addressed to US Defense Secretary William Cohen, Admiral Jay Johnson argued that ships provide a mobile layer of added protection which would enhance proposed landbased anti-missile systems.

Navy officials have long argued that ships provide a cost-effective way of deploying interceptors that can be used to knock enemy warheads out of the sky, the daily reported.

President Bill Clinton is to decide over the next several months whether to proceed with the construction of a limited anti-missile system. Taiwan army to get supersonic missiles in two years: reports