Should The U.S. Navy Convert Commercial Ships Into Floating Missile Platforms

Vertical launch silos on the destroyer USS Benfold. Silos such as these could easily be refitted to commercial ships. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jason Amadi

Popular Mechanics: Should the U.S. Navy Turn Merchant Ships into Floating Missile Magazines?

The concept could flood battle zones with hundreds of missiles, but it’s not without disadvantages.

The U.S. Navy could buy older civilian merchant ships on the cheap and convert them into floating arsenals. The concept, outlined in the U.S. Naval Institute, envisions adding dozens—if not hundreds—of multiuse missile silos to the ships to provide additional firepower to the Navy while it struggles to reach its 355-ship goal. The idea is an attractive one but has a number of issues under the surface.

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WNU Editor: In any major war or conflict you want to be able to introduce more fire-power against your adversary than what he can use against you. In a peer-to-peer conflict the U.S. Navy will need help, and this is one way to do it (and cheaper).