The ocean's size and the radar horizon already make ships difficult to locate when they avoid transmitting electromagnetic signals. Signature reduction has another purpose once a missile is approaching. A smaller ship return is easier to imitate with decoys carried in relatively small rockets, leaving the seeker uncertain about which return to follow. Very fast missiles have little time to recover from that uncertainty before passing the target.
Notable Point · 1:47:58-1:49:27
How reduced signatures help naval decoys
Ocean distance helps a ship remain undetected, while a smaller radar signature helps decoys confuse an incoming missile.