Kauai site will test missile defense for European system

A planned ballistic missile defense shield for Europe will take the next step with a missile flight test on Kauai next week.

The launch of a Standard Missile 3 Block IB from the "Aegis Ashore" site at the Pacific Missile Range Facility will test equipment and procedures that will be replicated for the defensive system slated to be operational in Romania in 2015 and Poland in 2018.

The development of the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test Complex at Barking Sands also is an indication of Hawaii’s growing importance as a ballistic missile defense center.

"This will be the first-ever flight test from a land-based Aegis system," said Riki Ellison, chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, a nonprofit organization that supports a strong missile defense for the United States and its allies.

"I think it has some real big significance beyond just the technical capabilities," Ellison said. "It’s going to be the first system that’s going to be land-based inside of NATO in Romania."

Aegis Ashore will allow NATO "to show its resolve in the defense of Europe," Ellison said.

The test complex at PMRF, being replicated for operational use in Romania, represents the second phase of what’s known as the "Phased Adaptive Approach" to missile defense in Europe.

As part of Phase 1, U.S. Navy ships with the ability to shoot down short- and medium-range ballistic missiles are being deployed to the region.

The Phase 3 Aegis Ashore site in Poland will include improved SM-3 missiles to counter intermediate-range ballistic missiles and a limited capability to intercept intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Iran is seen as a missile threat, but Russia has balked at the European missile defense, which it maintains can target its nuclear arms.

The upcoming nonintercept missile flight on Kauai is the first of several such tests scheduled, said Rick Lehner, a spokes­man for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.

"Tests at PMRF allow us to evaluate system performance under operationally realistic test scenarios for Aegis Ashore operations in Romania and Poland," he said.

Using the same equipment as on ballistic missile defense destroyers and cruisers, including a deckhouse with an AN/SPY-1 Aegis radar system, and a Mark 41 Vertical Launch System with SM-3 missiles, the land-based variant is like a ship that’s been dismantled and partially reassembled on shore.

In this case the components are a bit more spread out. At PMRF the deckhouse is less than a half-mile from the ocean, and the launcher is 3.5 miles away.

The new $400 million Aegis Ashore test facility held a "light-off" ceremony Dec. 6, signifying the first time the equipment was powered on.

Ellison said the Aegis Ashore concept could be used elsewhere.

"Japan is looking at this, and some other Asian countries, possibility Korea, could look at this as another asset to put in play," he said.

He added that Hawaii "is becoming the centerpiece for missile defense in terms of its future expansion and future systems."

The state hosts a number of Navy ballistic missile defense warships, sophisticated missile testing capabilities and the Aegis Ashore facility at PMRF, and the giant floating Sea-Based X-Band Radar at Ford Island.

The 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command might expand and is trying to base a transportable Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery in Hawaii for deployment around the region, Ellison said.

THAAD missiles are capable of intercepting ballistic missiles inside or outside the atmosphere during their final phase of flight.

"So it’s pretty unique that you have all these systems in one place in the Pacific," Ellison said.