The Russian ship Marshal Krylov has been updated to make it possible to track ballistic missiles. The story in Izvestia caught my attention because of a rather bold statement that the ship is now able to detect launched missiles anywhere in the world, which seems like a marvelous technical breakthrough given that the earth is round. Have Russian scientists figured out a way to measure athmospheric incidents on the other side of the planet, and if so, why have they intalled it on a ship instead of placing it on land which seems more convenient? Turns out the ship cannot see around corners, and the trick to seeing what’s happening on the other side of the planet is to move the ship. Oh, well.

It is still interesting that Russia now has this maritime capability, though. The ship was originally built to support the Russian space program but has been updated to give it a military purpose as well. It has been assigned to the Russian Pacific Fleet, which makes a lot of sense because this seems like the hot spot for ballistic missiles.

It is comforting to know that Russia prioritizes this matter. Literally speaking, the safety of the world could depend on Russia’s ability to monitor missile launches from North Korea and possible American countermeasures. There are some really scary perspectives in the possibility that Russia could misunderstand the launch of American ballistic countermeasures as a massive nuclear strike, and a better Russian situational picture is really good news.