[PeterFinn]

"The China Sea and Sea of Japan have had American ships on station continuously since the 1920's"


Hmmm? Wasn't there a little fracas during the 1940's that kept our Navy off that part of the pond for a while?

[judicial meanz]

It slowed them down, but submarines and carriers of the 7th tore them to pieces eventually..LOL

[ProudVet77]

"Wasn't there a little fracas during the 1940's that kept our Navy off that part of the pond for a while?"
Don't tell that to a WWII submariner. :)

JM - I think the Aegis radar is meant for early detection and tracking, once above say 40 or 50 miles altitude we can track it from Pearl, Alaska, Guam etc. The SM3 is meant to hit a ballistic missile at apogee, but I've been hearing more and more about ascent phase missile destruction. It would make sense to mount them on Aegis class ships.