The first Nuclear bomb was developed and tested 78 years ago on July 16, 1945, out of the White Sands Missile Range and Los Alamos New Mexico. An American Team led by Dr J. Robert Oppenheimer with supervision, resources and support by the United States Army General Leslie Groves proved the splitting of Atoms, “fission”, for a controlled chain reaction in the creation of the nuclear bomb. This past weekend, Hollywood premiered and released the blockbuster movie Oppenheimer, which recognized and celebrated the famous American nuclear physicist who led the efforts of a diverse and eccentric team of 4,000 people and 2 billion dollars. In five years this team achieved a world-first nuclear capability that ended World War II with Japan and has helped deter great power war since then. Dr. Oppenheimer’s actions across a diverse, eccentric superstar team and the trust placed in him by the United States government despite his controversial past, produced a game changing capability under extreme pressure, with the outcome of a World War in the balance for the United States of America and its Allies. His engineering harnessed their unique skills together as one team in quantum physics to outpace, outcompete, and win against Germany and the Soviet Union in a World Championship to be first and to change the world forever.
Today, there is a “Manhattan type” project that can change the world forever for the betterment of the nation and its allies that have the same challenges, the same type of players, and the same dynamics with the same institutions at the same place we as a nation did 78 years ago at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. It is the Missile Defense of Guam (MDG) against Chinese missile threats of hypersonic glide, ballistic, cruise and drones to deter and prevent a great power conflict in the Pacific. In full alignment with the Administration’s National Security Policy (link to OSD Policy on Missile Defense) supported by the United States Congress, with an estimated $6.0 billion dollar figure, the Missile Defense of Guam is made up of current and future technologies such as direct energy, non kinetic, electromagnetic and cyber kill, all fully integrated with offensive fires capabilities distributed across all domains from Space to Underwater to be completed by 2025. The United States Army has been given the lead for the Missile Defense of Guam specifically to the Command of United States Army Pacific. They require tasking authority and directed resources. General Charlie Flynn, is today’s General Groves, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army Mr. Young Bang (Link) of Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (ALT) and Heidi Shyu’s organization, the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD (R&E)) will lead the architecture build, under which will be the Missile Defense Agency and the upcoming new Director of MDA.
There is nowhere better in the world today for the United States to test, develop and create the Missile Defense of Guam than at the US Army’s White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The range is a secluded area in the Southwest part of the country. Made up of 3,200 square miles, it can fit the entire island of Guam, which has 212 square miles in its test range 15 times. Connected to the United States Army Fort Bliss Texas (link) through the McGregor Test Range of 945 square miles which is the home of the U.S Army’s largest Army Air Defense Command, the 32nd AAMDC (link). Both McGregor and White Sands are used actively in testing and development throughout the life cycle of Army Air and Missile Defense and MDA systems. McGregor and White Sands are used actively in testing and development of Air Defense systems by the MDA, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force, all of whom will have a role in making the Guam architecture a reality. In close coordination with the 30th ADA Brigade from Fort Sill, Oklahoma, a training and doctrine brigade, the subordinate battalions of 2-6 ADA and 3-6 ADA Battalions provide the soldiers today of working on the current and future Army Missile Defense systems being deployed to Guam and around the World – systems such as the Sentinel A4, the Patriot MSE, the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense System (LTAMDS), and the Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS). The 32nd AAMDC at Fort Bliss also operates THAAD Batteries, which have done most of their testing and early development at White Sands with MDA as well as the current integration of Patriot with THAAD done by MDA deployed and operational in the Republic of Korea. Guam, since 2013 has an actively deployed THAAD Battery with a TYP-2 Radar, launchers, interceptors and command that will be included in the Missile Defense of Guam.
Leading-edge missile defense technology and systems, such as the Directed Energy (link) lasers tested in 2022, LTAMDS, IBCS, the Integrated Fire Protection Capability system (IFPC) and the Mid-Range Capability (MRC) weapon system have all been tested at White Sands and all will be incorporated into the Missile Defense of Guam. The United States Air Force has successfully tested integration of F-35s, F-22s, and other fighter aircraft with U.S. Army Air Defense systems, including Patriot, at WSMR. Tactical aircraft integration will be crucial to a successful Missile Defense architecture. The United States Navy has successfully tested its Aegis Interceptors as well as every version of the Standard Missile (link) at White Sands at the USS Desert Ship (link) and operates a Mk. 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) that is integrated with Army Patriot and Air Defense systems at White Sands alongside the Army’s dirigibles, the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS), also tested at White Sands.
Other U.S. testing ranges, such as those in and along the Pacific, while useful and important, are suboptimal for testing a new defense architecture with the complexity and scale required for the Guam Defense System. Additionally, any U.S. test range in and alongside the Pacific can be easily monitored by Chinese and Russian intelligence gathering ships.
White Sands Missile Range will require upgrading and modernizing its telemetry, adding additional sensors and extensive class 3 and counter drone capability.
Building and testing the Atomic Bomb at White Sands in 1945 helped lead to the end of WWII; building and testing sophisticated Missile Defense systems architectures for Guam at White Sands could help prevent the next great power conflict. If this effort is planned and executed with the wisdom and foresight akin to that of Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, General Groves and his elite Civilian-Military team, America will have highly capable and effective missile defense systems architectures in place — spanning from the U.S. Mainland to Guam and out across the Indo-Pacific.
Theory will only get us so far– Ending War and Preventing War both require strategic vision and bold action. — This is America’s strength, legacy and mandate.
