Threat from N. Korean missiles addressed

U.S. Rep. Mark Takai’s office said proposed defense legislation would require the Pentagon to report back on the level of ballistic missile threat to Hawaii and the efficacy of making the Aegis Ashore missile testing site on Kauai operational.

Also required within 60 days of passage of the bill would be a study, including cost, on installing a medium-range ballistic missile radar “for the defense of Hawaii.”

The language included by the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, of which Takai is a member, would prevent the Pentagon from placing Aegis Ashore into a “cold” or “standby” status as missile defense testing winds down there — a step intended to address an expected testing gap.

The bill additionally seeks within 120 days a broader review to see whether it would be a good idea to bolster U.S. missile defense by deploying one or more Aegis Ashore sites to the mainland and Guam.

The subcommittee proposals are expected to be rolled into the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act markup next week.

Takai’s office said he worked with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency to bring about $10 million in planning and design funds to the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai for a medium-range missile discriminating radar and to evaluate whether the test facility could be operationalized as a defensive site.

“Increasing missile threats from North Korea and other actors in the region make it necessary to upgrade our defensive systems in Hawaii,” Takai said in a news release. The Hawaii lawmaker also wants the Sea-Based X-Band Radar used more for defense.

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard also has advocated operationalizing Aegis Ashore at the Pacific Missile Range Facility for added Hawaii defense.

Gen. Vincent Brooks, head of U.S. Army Pacific at Fort Shafter, said at a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing Tuesday for his nomination as head of U.S. Forces Korea that Kim Jong-un’s assumption of control over North Korea following his father’s death in 2011 “has led to a more aggressive and unpredictable North Korea.”

The head of U.S. Northern Command said last month that North Korea could hit Hawaii, Alaska and the mainland with an intercontinental ballistic missile and that it was prudent to assume it has the ability to miniaturize a nuclear weapon.

Kim “appears to be more risk-tolerant, arrogant and impulsive than his father, raising the prospect of miscalculation,” Brooks said in answers to advance Senate questions.

DefenseNews.com reported that Lt. Gen. Robert Brown, commander of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center in Kansas, is Brooks’ likely replacement in Hawaii.

The Kauai missile facility, which tracks incoming missiles and fires interceptors, was put in place to test defensive Aegis Ashore sites for Romania and Poland. It uses a land-based SPY-1 radar and SM-3 missiles like those on 33 Navy Aegis ships with ballistic missile shoot-down capability.

Riki Ellison, chairman of the nonprofit Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, said last month that Hawaii lags in ballistic missile defense while the United States pours billions into defensive additions in Alaska and the mainland, Guam, Japan and South Korea.

The Missile Defense Agency said in 2013 when the Kauai site was first powered up that the “Aegis Ashore facility is a test facility and is not planned as an operational site.”

Hawaii has limited protection from ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California. Aegis Ashore could provide at least two more shot opportunities to knock out a North Korean missile in the terminal phase of flight, according to Ellison’s organization.

Takai said he was able to include an amendment in the defense bill for $205 million to replace aging aircraft at the Marine Corps base at Kaneohe Bay with two new C-40 Clippers based on the Boeing 737-700C to support U.S. Pacific Fleet requirements.

Takai said he also worked to advance military funding for projects in Hawaii including:

>> Over $72 million for projects at Kaneohe Bay for a consolidated communications and electrical facility.

>> $40 million for the second phase of the new command and control facility at Fort Shafter.

>> $31 million for a National Guard combined support maintenance shop in Hilo to support ongoing training at Pohakuloa Training Area.

>> More than $17 million for an energy conservation project at the National Security Agency-Hawaii in Kunia.

>> Over $43 million for the continued power grid consolidation at the Pacific Missile Range Facility.

>> $11 million for the National Guard F-22 Composite Repair Facility at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.