Pop-up missile. It would have jumped right over it.
Not to mention the fact that the ship can't maneouver while towing a shield of 3" thick steel plates 150' on either side of the ship. And, the plates would have to be longer than the ship, and taller than the ship, and one of the two missiles (the one that barely missed) came straight down, so the plates would have to be over the ship too...
Who said anything about towing?
I was suggesting a self-propelled decoy, that could run parralel to the ship, landward. NOT TOWED.
If it was only 50 meters from the ship, and the missile was travelling at 500 mph, it couldn't possibly have hopped the decoy (which it wouldn't have done anyway), and still hit the ship.
You people need to put on your thinking caps.
Obiously the answer is to operate all Saars in seaside caves. Of course that'd make outgoing fire a bit challenging...
"Pop-up" flight profiles have been rendered pretty much obsolete by modern anti-missile systems. The game is played too fast nowadays to give the bad guys an extra few seconds to shoot you down.
Why not make the stell plates integral with the sides and deck of the ship?:^)