The floating missile defense radar based in Alaska is heading back to Hawaii this month for repairs and improvements, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Jan. 16).
The X-band radar arrived earlier this year at its permanent home near Adak, Alaska, after an extended stop last year in Hawaii.
The 28-story, $815 million device now could spend several months at the BAE Shipyards on Oahu.
During that time, it might temporarily leave the facility to allow for participation in testing of the ground-based missile defense system, AP reported.
The X-band radar is designed to detect objects as small as a baseball at a distance of thousands of miles, and to identify missile warheads and missile decoys (Associated Press/The Charlotte Observer, June 9).