The proposed British system's original mission is defence against a mass, high-speed attack on its own task group. Missiles crossing the area toward a merchant ship present different engagement geometry. Clarke cautions against treating performance against the relatively limited threats discussed in the Red Sea as proof of performance against every missile threat. The comparison concerns the defended ship's position and the attack a system was designed to defeat.
Notable Point · 3:43:37-3:45:16
Defending a task group and defending passing merchant ships
A system designed to defeat missiles approaching its own formation faces a different problem when protecting nearby merchant traffic.