The key part here is what Moskva was alone there, without any other assets, which could provide additional AA cover. For whatever reasons it's own AA wasn't fu

The key part here is what Moskva was alone there, without any other assets, which could provide additional AA cover. For whatever reasons it's own AA wasn't function properly so the chances to hit were exceptional. I don't believe some folks on the shore would just scan the sea beyond the horizon just in case they could get a lock. That's not how it works. Maybe they could get a lock (it's still a possibility) but that's the difference between the targeting mode only. It was a US intelligence operation from the start to the end.