On Wednesday (May 3), Riki Ellison briefed the Hawaii State Legislature’s House Veterans, Military, International Affairs, and Culture and the Arts Committee and Senate Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs Committee. Below is a preview of the Honolulu Star Advertiser’s article “Activate Kauai Missile Shield, Expert Urges,” reporting on the briefing.

Hawaii shouldn’t be held for “nuclear ransom” by North Korea and needs to activate its Aegis Ashore missile testing facility on Kauai in times of emergency to provide a layered missile shield for the isles, a defense expert told Hawaii state lawmakers Wednesday.

Riki Ellison, chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, a nonprofit group, briefed two committees on North Korea’s posture and U.S. missile defense. He later noted that the Aegis Ashore facility was put in place to test land-based missiles for Romania and Poland and the defense of Europe.

“We’re paying for these missiles. We built these missiles and now we’re sending them — after they are tested and proven right here in Hawaii” — to Europe, Ellison said.

That same defense doesn’t extend to Hawaii, he noted.

Ellison maintains that the $450 million Aegis Ashore installation…

Click here to read the full article on the Honolulu Star Advertiser’s website.