Amphibious transport docks could host missile defense systems.

• Position: From the National Defense Blog

* Huntington Ingalls Industries is in discussions with defense officials about potentially putting missile defense radars and laser weapons on San Antonio-class amphibious transport docks.

"You can put a lot of additional weight on the ship and you can put ... some modern technologies like ballistic missile defense radars that are very heavy," Brian Cuccias, corporate vice president at HII and president of Ingalls Shipbuilding, told reporters. "We think it's a great idea."

"You have a design life margin .... on some ships that say you can only take so much more weight before you have a stability issue or, you know, you don't have your margins," he said. "When you close in the well deck of the LPD ship you expand that capability to take a lot of weight, and the stability on LPD is such you can actually put weight up high" where missile defense radars would be positioned.

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