Military.Com
Amid complaints of Pacific neglect, efforts are underway to restore funding for a powerful $1.9 billion defensive radar in Hawaii, potentially add two types of defensive missile capability in the Aloha State for North Korean threats and create an “Indo-Pacific Deterrence Initiative ” modeled on a similar European effort.
A deputy assistant secretary of defense recently discussed the advantages of positioning a souped-up Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, battery in Hawaii.
Defense officials previously indicated the state likely would be protected by a new defensive missile co-developed with Japan, the SM-3 Block IIA, as part of an “underlay ” shield that still relies primarily on big ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California.
