The superior U.S. military position has always rested on technological advantage. Now that advantage is shifting to the East. Technology and the Strategy Lag THER technologies are coming down the road whose strategic impacts are only barely appreciated in the United States. Strategy lags behind technology in both the United States and Asia. But the strategy will come, as it always does when technological opportunities are put together and better understood.
Cruise missiles are small, unmanned aircraftlike vehicles that fly at low, radar-evading altitudes.
The most famous cruise missiles today are the U.S. Tomahawk, used repeatedly in attacks on Iraq, and the Chinese Silkworm, sold to Iran and a cause of great concern in the Persian Gulf. Cruise missiles are accurate and inexpensive, and many can be armed with nuclear, chemical, or biological warheads. They are useful for attacking ships, because their sea-skimming height makes them hard to find until the last moment. They pose a major threat to any navy, the more so when ships operate close to land or in confined waters like the Persian Gulf. For this reason the U.S. Navy is heavily invested in cruise-missile defense.