Ballistic anti-ship salvos and strategic ambiguity

Fast ballistic threats compress defensive response time and become more dangerous as part of a mixed attack. A salvo of roughly a dozen large missiles also creates uncertainty about its purpose. Early flight can resemble an attack on strategic land targets, a concern illustrated with the DF-26's shared design ancestry. Even a launch from a known anti-ship battery may be ambiguous if the apparent track threatens a base or allied territory. The risk is that a response begins before the intended targets become clear. Naval defences must account for these weapons even if escalation risks constrain their use.