Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 15. August 2003 / Timeline August 15, 2003
Version 3.514. August 2003, 16. August 2003
08/15/2003
United States Department
of Defense : Missile Defense Radar Site Chosen
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced today that it has
selected Adak, Alaska, as the Primary Support Base (PSB) for the
Sea-Based X-Band (SBX) radar. The PSB includes a mooring site and
minimum logistics support for the SBX. The SBX is a part of the
Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, a missile defense
system designed to intercept and destroy long-range ballistic
missiles aimed at the U.S. homeland.
The selection of Adak is contained in the Record of Decision signed
by MDA director Lt. Gen. Ronald T. Kadish, as part of the recently
completed GMD extended test range final environmental impact
statement (FEIS). The FEIS analyzed the impacts of the proposed
action and alternatives to establish an extended test range
capability to provide more realistic flight-testing of the GMD
system. The FEIS examined development of the capability for single
and dual launches of interceptor and target missiles and supporting
infrastructure at various locations in the Pacific.
Besides Adak, five other locations were considered: Naval Base
Ventura County, Calif.; Naval Station Everett, Wash.; Reagan Test
Site, Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands; Port of
Valdez, Alaska and Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The
selection of Adak was the result of extensive analysis of numerous
factors relating to operations, support and sustainability,
including easy access to potential operating areas and available
support infrastructure.
The SBX vessel, a self-propelled semi-submersible modified
oil-drilling platform, will be modified and payloads installed at
shipyards in Brownsville and Corpus Christi, Texas, and is
scheduled to begin supporting GMD operations in 2005. The SBX will
provide detailed ballistic missile tracking information to the GMD
system, as well as advanced target and countermeasures
discrimination capability for the GMD interceptor missiles. The
ability of the SBX to deploy to operating locations under its own
power allows it to support actual GMD operations as well as
realistic testing. The SBX is approximately 390 feet long and 250
feet high, and has a displacement of 50,000 tons.
During the last months some Alaskan towns have been actively
campaigning for, and others against, receipt of the base [Missing
in the Press Release from Pentagon, but quoted in
- http://www.missilethreat.com/systems/sbx_usa.html .
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