[central_va]

Very unlikely to be a "ballistic" missile if it is meant to be aimed at a ship unless it is one in port. Ballistic means that it just follows the path of gravity rather than being able to guided to its target. You won't have a chance to get a direct hit on a ship at sea unless it is traveling at a constant speed and direction for the entire time it takes to target, launch and fly the missile without some type of terminal guidance.

The resident AC carrier haters will disagree....

[Travis McGee]

Posted above.

Ballistic is no longer used in a limited sense, and ICBMs have always had mid course guidance systems. In this case, the reentry guided warhead is delivered to a “basket”, which covers all possible positions of the ship (30 kts just doesn’t take you far in 10 minutes). The reentry vehicle then guides the warhead into the ship using either radar, IR, or a combination of both.

13 posted on Wednesday, April 24, 2013 8:38:36 AM by SampleMan