Navy Chief John Richardson Wants Military to Boost Land-Based Missile Defense Systems

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson has called on other U.S. military services to send more land-based missile defense assets to the field to allow the Navy to use its fleet for other vital missions, National Defense Magazine reported Monday.

The Navy deploys some of its destroyers and other ships to defend sites ashore against air-and-missile threats. However, such tasks limit the service’s ability to expand its global presence and enhance its agility, Richardson said at a recent event at Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.

“We’ve got exquisite capability but we’ve had ships protecting some pretty static assets on land for a decade,” he said. “If that asset is going to be a long-term protected asset, then let’s build something on land and protect that and liberate these ships from this mission.”
 
The call comes after the Pentagon released a missile defense review showing the need for new capabilities across the agency, including land-based and sea-based assets. Richardson said the Navy would utilize industry input to help modernization efforts. 

“We will start to go a little bit broader partnering with industry,” he said. “We’re doing some great things in terms of bringing industry into our conversations earlier and earlier.”