U.S. Plans:  MDA Considering Hawaii For Sea-Based X-Band Radar

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is considering stationing the Sea-Based Test X-Band radar platform, a component of a U.S. missile defense system, in Hawaii for testing, the Honolulu Advertiser reported Sunday (see GSN, Jan. 28).

If Hawaii were to be chosen, the radar would be moored for up to nine months at one of two locations in the state and then moved to one of three operational areas in the northern Pacific, according to the Advertiser.  In addition to Hawaii, the agency is considering five other locations for the radar platform — California, Washington state, the Marshall Islands and two sites in Alaska.

The agency last week invited the public to comment on a draft environmental impact statement for the radar platform.  Public comment will be taken until March 24, with a final statement expected in August, the Advertiser reported.  The radar platform itself will probably not be deployed until at least 2005, said U.S. Navy Cmdr. Robert Dees, a radar platform technical adviser (William Cole, Honolulu Advertiser, March 9).

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Taiwan:  U.S., Taiwanese Defense Officials Meet, Discuss Chinese Missile Threat

A Taiwanese newspaper reported today that U.S. defense officials have arrived in Taipei to examine Taiwan’s missile defense capabilities, according to Agence France-Presse (see GSN, Feb. 26).

The U.S. delegation, led by Mary Tighe, head of Asia Pacific security affairs at the Pentagon, met with Taiwanese defense officials today to discuss the threat of a Chinese missile strike, the United Daily News reported.  Tighe is the highest-ranking U.S. defense official to visit Taiwan since the United States granted diplomatic recognition to China in 1979 (Agence France-Presse, March 11).

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U.S. Plans I:  Senator Predicts Fight Over Operational Testing Waiver

U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said yesterday that there would be “a real battle” in Congress over the Bush administration’s plan to waive operational testing requirements for missile defense deployment (see GSN, Feb. 24).

The Bush administration has proposed waiving the operational testing requirement so that the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system and the Sea-based Midcourse Defense system can begin to be deployed next year, according to Aerospace Daily.  Some lawmakers, however, have questioned the proposal, saying that the systems should not be deployed without first being fully tested.

“That is going to be a very contentious issue,” Levin said (Marc Selinger, Aerospace Daily, March 7).

For further information, see:

MDA Basics of Missile Defense

MDA Missile Defense System

MDA Midcourse Defense Segment

Sea-Based Midcourse

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U.S. Plans II:  Extra Weight Will Not Affect ABL Test, Director Says

While the Airborne Laser, a planned component in a U.S. missile defense system, is about 30,000 pounds heavier than expected, the system should still be ready for its first operational test scheduled for December 2004, Air Force Col. Ellen Pawlikowski, ABL program director, said Wednesday (see GSN, March 3).

The ABL system weighs about 200,000 pounds, about 30,000 pounds more than the anticipated weight of 170,000 pounds, Pawlikowski said.  The use of titanium instead of composite materials for some ABL components contributed, in part, to the increased weight, she said.

The added weight, however, is small compared to the 700,000-pound capacity of the Boeing 747-400 freighter aircraft designated to house the system, Pawlikowski said.  “The aircraft can certainly handle that” extra weight, she said (Marc Selinger, Aerospace Daily, March 7).

For further information, see:

MDA Basics of Missile Defense

MDA Missile Defense System

Airborne Laser Fact Sheet

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U.S. Plans:  Official Danish Report Favors U.S. Radar Upgrade in Greenland

By David Ruppe
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — Denmark issued a report Tuesday favoring a U.S. Defense Department request to upgrade a radar in Greenland for use in the planned U.S. national missile defense system (see GSN, Jan. 2).

No final decision has been made yet, however, and vocal opposition persists from the Danish Parliament and newspapers and Greenland’s home-rule government.  A parliamentary hearing is scheduled this month and a debate is scheduled for April.

The radar, at the U.S. Thule Air Base in remote northwestern Greenland, would be intended primarily for tracking ballistic missile attacks launched from the Middle East toward the U.S. mainland, experts say. 

Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark with no legal foreign policy authority.  The native population largely opposes granting the request, citing previous negative experiences with the U.S. base and concerns about being targeted for attacks because of the base.

Positive Response

The Danish Foreign Ministry report says official consideration of the issue had produced an “immediately positive response to the American request.”

“Security is achieved in partnership.  Denmark stands to benefit from a collective security guarantee in NATO.  We must ensure that this security guarantee remains as credible as possible,” the report says.

It also says, though, that further debates and discussions are planned for the coming months, an indication that no final decision has been made.  By comparison, the United Kingdom, which had received a similar request, indicated its preference for approval and then announced approval before public discussions and parliamentary consideration were fully concluded (see GSN, Feb. 6).

Addressing a range of criticism, the Danish report says the upgrade would not make Greenland a target for terrorists or rogue states nor further destabilize the international system.

It also says approval of the request would not oblige Denmark to participate in the system, or to pay for it, but would make it easier for Denmark to join the system in the future if it chose.

Danish critics have said the radar itself, because of its location, would provide no protection to Denmark from missiles launched from the Middle East.

Opposition Persists

The issue is controversial in Denmark, with at least one vocal party arguing against the request.

The chairman of Greenland’s home-rule government, Hans Enoksen, has called the report one-sided for only representing Danish points of view, according to Jorgen Dragsdahl, a Danish journalist who has been tracking the issue closely and opposes approval.

Enoksen also criticized the Danish government for releasing the report only in the Danish language, according to Dragsdahl, because Enoksen “can’t read Danish.”

Enoksen reportedly said he sent a letter of protest to Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Some politicians are trying to link approval of the U.S. request to a renegotiation of a 1951 security agreement between Denmark and the United States, so as to allow Greenland to become a party and to receive direct compensation from Washington for use of the facility.

The report says Denmark is willing to “work with” Greenland’s home-rule government in “modernizing” the treaty.

U.S. officials have said they prefer not to renegotiate the treaty.

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