# From the Sea: National Missile Defense Is Neither Cheap Nor Easy 

September 6, 2000 • Foreign Policy Briefing No. 60 

By [Charles V. Peña](https://www.cato.org/people/charles-pena) 

[ 

Download PDF 

](https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/fpb60.pdf) 

Sea-based missile defense is being advocated as an alternative to the Clinton administration’s limited land-based national missile defense (NMD), which is in the early stages of testing. Proponents of sea-based NMD (which is only a concept, not a program) argue that such a system can be deployed more quickly and will be less expensive than the Clinton administration’s land-based system. Some argue that the Navy Theater Wide (NTW) system–which is being designed to provide midcourse intercept capability against slower, shorter-range theater ballistic missiles–can be upgraded to attack long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in their boost phase (when under powered flight at the beginning of their trajectories). Interestingly enough, advocates of sea-based NMD include not only traditional supporters of missile defense but also people who were previously opposed to missile defense.

The claims made about sea-based NMD and boost-phase intercept capability should be viewed skeptically. The current NTW system does not have boost-phase capability against ICBMs. The NTW interceptor cannot be easily and cheaply modified to provide such capability. In fact, a new interceptor would have to be designed and built, and a faster, larger interceptor with boost-phase capability might not be compatible with the vertical launchers on Aegis ships. Moreover, the technological problems associated with sea-based NMD are compounded by operational issues.

Finally, sea-based NMD is really not a “national” missile defense system; it is the first step to a much larger and more expensive global missile defense system. Thus, the claims that sea-based NMD is inexpensive do not ring true. Even if initial costs of sea-based NMD are relatively low (which is a doubtful proposition), the follow-on costs to deploy space-based defenses will be significantly greater–in all likelihood by an order of magnitude or more–and certainly much greater than the cost of a limited land-based system.

[![Media Name: fpb60.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/serial_cover_phone/public/pubs/covers/fpb60.jpg?itok=OqDPgdPB)](https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/fpb60.pdf) 

### Download This Foreign Policy Briefing

##### From the Sea: National Missile Defense Is Neither Cheap Nor Easy 

[ 

Download PDF 

](https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/fpb60.pdf) 

##### About the Author 

[![Media Name: pena.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/authors/crops/pena.jpg?itok=SP3OJIk0)](/people/charles-pena) 

##### [Charles V. Peña](/people/charles-pena)

Former Director of Defense Policy Studies 

[ 

](mailto:cpena@cato.org) 

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

[ 

Download PDF 

](https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/fpb60.pdf)