The United States may see the problem in narrow terms of whether defenses will or won't work. But whether or not some missiles can be shot down, the fact that they put the United States on the technological defensive is the larger point. 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.