Dear Members and Friends,
The time is now to operationalize the United States Aegis Ashore site located in the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai in order to best defend and best protect the 1.4 million American citizens in the state of Hawaii from North Korea and its impending nuclear ballistic missile capability. The Aegis Ashore test site in Barking Sands, Kauai last month successfully acquired, tracked, discriminated, and demonstrated an intercept against a target representing a medium range ballistic missile using a current SM-3 Block 1B interceptor that is in the inventory of the United States Navy. This demonstration validated and preceded the operationalizing of the Aegis Ashore site in Romania which is now proving capability with U.S. Aegis BMD ships, a forward based radar AN/TPY2 radar and SM-3 Block 1B interceptors to defend the populations of Romania and southeastern Europe from Iranian medium range ballistic missiles.
Due to North Korea’s 4th nuclear test on January 6th, an impending long range missile launch this spring, its estimated inventory of 600 plus short range, 200 plus medium range, 50 plus intermediate range and unknown ICBM range ballistic missiles combined with the consistent and continual public intent to strike the United States, and rogue and irrational behavior by its leader, the United States Government has the all-encompassing responsibility and duty to provide the best possible defense it can deploy today to protect American citizens in Hawaii, Guam, and the Western continental United States from North Korea.
Today, the United States defends Hawaii from a one shot capability with its very limited number of ground based interceptors in California and Alaska, having no opportunity due to distances and time to have a second shot capability. Hawaii rightfully deserves to have a second and third shot opportunity like the other 49 American states to increase its percentages of success and have the confidence and reliability of a layered defense. An operationalized Aegis Ashore site in Hawaii can provide at least two more additional shot opportunities in the terminal phase of an incoming North Korean nuclear ballistic missile. One opportunity in space with a SM-3 interceptor and one in the atmosphere with a SM-6 interceptor, both of these interceptors would be in place inside a vertical launch system (VLS) attached to the operational Aegis Ashore site.
The United States government has spent 2.3 billion tax dollars on building three Aegis Ashore sites in Romania, Poland, and a test site in Hawaii. Two of these sites are deployed today in Hawaii and Romania, and Poland is set to be deployed in 2018. None of the sites today are operationalized to protect United States territory and states. It would take less than a week after a decision is made by the United States Government to operationalize the Aegis Ashore Test site in Hawaii. This would entail bringing in a Navy Aegis BMD Crew from an existing Aegis Ashore and Aegis BMD training sites in Virginia and/or from any of the 33 existing U.S. BMD Aegis ships crews, providing available VLS 8-pack containers loaded with SM-3 1Bs and SM-6s, making software changes on the test site to make it operational and providing enhanced security around the site.
Hawaii, like Guam and the Continental United States, needs 24/7 protection in its ballistic missile defense from a nuclear North Korean threat. For Hawaii and Guam having a persistent land based site that costs over a billion less and millions less on operating and manning rather then using an already over tasked and multi mission Aegis BMD destroyers that are not persistent is the best use of U.S. tax dollars and defensive capability for this specific mission.
There is no logical reason why the United States President and National Security Advisor would not want to operationalize an already paid for, tested, and proven capability existing in Hawaii to defend the people of Hawaii against North Korea today. The United States and Hawaii cannot historically enable or fail to properly defend itself from a potential surprise attack from North Korea when existing capability is available.
Operationalize Aegis Ashore in Hawaii and make our Nation Safer!
