UN-READINESS: Running out of SM-3 at Sea? “One of the things that came up in yesterday’s Midrats was the intersection of a couple of bits of OSINT that, if correct on my part, is just another blinking red light warning that we are not equipping ourselves for a serious conflict west of the International Date Line. . . . The use of ballistic missiles by Iran twice this year to attack Israel and their ongoing use by proxies against, well, everyone, is not a ‘surprise.’ This has been known for a long time. Same as China’s ballistic missiles—both land attack and anti-ship—these too are not new, and their numbers are huge. Any military move by the US Navy west of the international date line will face thousands of conventionally armed ballistic missiles in addition to anti-ship cruised missiles, aircraft and submarines. Of all the challenges, the ballistic missiles are the hardest.”