the Missile Defense Agency is Please public comments by April 12th via the $ 1.9 billion missile radar system in Hawaii after the possible locations were narrowed down to the Army’s Kahuku Training Area on Oahu or the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai.
Last year the Pentagon tried the Homeland Defense Radar – Hawaii. to devalue citing difficulties in finding a viable location and interest in finding alternative sensor systems. The Hawaii Congress delegation struggled to restore funding for the project, and Senator Mazie Hirono called it her “top priority” in Congress annual defense funding bill.
But as local opposition to construction on the North Shore mounts, Hawaii’s newly-minted Congressman Kai Kahele has thrown his support for the Kauai site.
He told residents during a meeting of the North Shore Neighborhood Board in January that he agreed that there was no place for the system on Oahu.
“Ballistic missile defense in Hawaii and our nation must be a top priority,” Kahele later said in an email statement to Civil Beat. “But after extensive discussions with the North Shore and Kahuku communities, I refuse to place the home defense radar on the island of Oahu.”
“The most appropriate and logical location for the Homeland Defense Radar is on Kauai at the Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands,” he added.
The Pentagon awarded Lockheed Martin the contract for the 2018 project after a Fear of false missile warning while Tensions surrounding North Korea’s nuclear program intensified.
Planned development on the North Shore has often met with stiff resistance from local residents, most of them recently in a bitter battle for wind farms. At the end of last year, several local civic organizations formed the Koolau Waialua Alliance to oppose the installation of the missile defense system in Kahuku.
“We learned from our struggle for wind turbines that we need to work with different groups within our community who have similar interests,” said Tevita Ka’ili, a spokeswoman for the Koolau Waialua Alliance and former president of the Kahuku Community Association.
The military explored several locations along the north coast, including Kaena Point. This location was scrapped due to possible logistical difficulties as well as cost overruns. It was also home to endangered species and several ancient Hawaiian cultural sites.
North Shore opponents argue that the same problems persist in Kahuku, raising concerns that the construction work and associated traffic will disrupt life in the surrounding communities.
“We know from previous archaeological studies of the area that there are many undocumented historical and cultural sites there,” argued Ka’ili, who teaches cultural anthropology at Brigham Young University Hawaii.
The project is less formally organized than the opposition on Oahu, but it also has opponents and skeptics on Kauai. The military has been regularly criticized for its environmental impact in Hawaii, including duds on the island of Kahoolawe, a former naval bomb station, and environmental damage in Red Hill, Oahu.
That month, the outgoing Commander of the Indo-Pacific Command, Adm. Phil Davidson presented a wish list of $ 27 billion to Congress, including further funding for the radar.
“Here in Hawaii, Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii provides the solution to the gap in our ability to detect, track, differentiate and combat threats from ballistic, march and hypersonic missiles,” said Davidson in a speech on March 1 during a defense conference in Honolulu.
Opponents, however, point to the Pentagon’s concerns about its worth. Critics argue that the project is already out of date and would not be able to spot the latest Chinese hypersonic missiles. Others suggest that construction will take years and that space-based alternatives may be available before it is even completed.
The MDA has confirmed that the HDR-H does not detect hypersonic missiles. But while the HDR-H may not recognize the latest generation of high-tech guns, some analysts claim it is still taking off North Korea’s less sophisticated- but still potentially powerful – Nuclear arsenal.
North Korea developed nuclear weapons against the objections of its allies in China, which aroused concern in both Washington and Beijing. Although Davidson sees China as the strongest potential adversary for US forces in the region, he has found that he thinks North Korea is the most urgent.
In October, the North Korean military unveiled a new ballistic missile that analysts believe could be one of the largest in the world. In January it introduced new anti-submarine missiles. “As long as the nuclear situation on the Korean peninsula is not resolved, North Korea will remain our most immediate threat,” Davidson told Congress this month.
Joe Wilson, an organizer of the Koolau Waialua Alliance, said he was not naive about international politics. “That doesn’t mean we don’t believe that the military does matter and that sometimes there are these bigger defense issues,” he said.
“But we are against the idea of how these things happen, where they are placed, what the potential threats are and how necessary it actually is.” Wilson added. “The motivating force seems to be those who see this as an economic development strategy for Hawaii. And that’s just not right. “
This year the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism recommended a new “Defense Sector Alliance“Hoping to use the Pentagon’s spending to add technology and engineering to the islands.
The Chamber of CommerceThe Hawaii Military Council has insisted that the HDR-H will subcontract jobs to local businesses during its construction and will employ a wide range of technicians and engineers when it is commissioned.
While tourism dollars declined sharply during the pandemic, defense spending remained stable. But others have different visions for Hawaii’s economy.
“People have come up with new ways to really think about other areas like agriculture etc that are more sustainable and also provide food security,” Ka’ili said. “I think it’s important for us to invest in something that is much better for the environment in the long term than something like militarism.”
Comments are closed.