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Originally Posted by ArmchairGeneral
Er, make that Mach 2.5. And that's high altitude. 1.5 at sea skimming height, from what I've read.
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I thought the Shipwreck has a top down attack profile, meaning it is launched at an angle and then skims the sea towards the target or ballistically towards the target and then accelerates upwards and then even accelerates more downward, reaching at the speed of Mach 5 when it hits the target.
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And any system capable of taking out ballistic missiles that easily exceed Mach 5 should have no problem with much slower missiles at high altitudes. But yes, speed does have its advantages. And Mach 1.5 on the deck still means virtually no reaction time without OTH sensors. I'd be surprised if an Iowa managed to shoot down 1 out of 10 Shipwrecks launched at it.
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True that any system capable of shotting down ballistic missiles would have no problem with such lower speed missiles but remember that system has to have ample time to scan the sky and area for targets, track the targets once found, acquire firing solution for the missiles, and then launch the missiles into position where they could intercept the incoming missile's flight envelope. With Kirov less than 50 miles away, I am not sure that any system would be capable of performing this feat with the given timeframe.