Anti-ship ballistic missiles fly toward prepared interceptors

A ballistic anti-ship weapon creates political and technical problems before impact. Observers may not know whether a launch is conventional, nuclear, or aimed at a ship until its trajectory becomes clear, so mass firing carries escalation risk. A carrier group is also likely to contain ships designed for ballistic-missile defense. Because the incoming weapon must approach the defended force, the interception geometry can be simpler than trying to cross the path of a target flying past at an angle, though defenders would still fire multiple interceptors to protect the ship.