An artist's rendering by Lockheed Martin of Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii in Oahu. (Courtesy of Lockheed Martin)
FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii — Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $585 million, five-year subcontract to design and build a ballistic-missile defense radar system in Hawaii, the Pentagon said.
The defense contractor, based in Moorestown, N.J., was the only firm to make an offer in the competitive-bid process for creation of the Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii system, according to a statement released Tuesday.
Just over $51 million has been appropriated for its initial development and evaluation, the statement said.
The subcontract, which is part of a much larger project contracted by the Missile Defense Agency, extends to December 2023.
The radar would identify, track and classify long-range ballistic missiles while they are in mid-course flight. Interceptors would be fired from outside Hawaii.
The 2017 National Defense Authorization Act required the MDA to develop a radar system to improve the defense of Hawaii.
North Korea poses the greatest ballistic-missile threat to Hawaii, which is the headquarters for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
Lockheed in a news release said it will “leverage” a current radar project in Clear, Alaska, in developing Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii.
The Alaska project, the Long-Range Discrimination Radar, is part of the U.S. Ground-Based Midcourse Defense anti-ballistic missile system and is expected to be operational in 2020.
MDA has proposed two possible sites for Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii, both on Oahu’s North Shore.
MDA is preparing the required environmental impact assessment for both locations.
One site is 160 acres of state-owned land on Kuaokala Ridge, on the western tip of Oahu within the Waianae Mountain Range. That land is adjacent to the U.S. Air Force Kaena Point Satellite Tracking Station, an Air Force Space Command installation operated by the 50th Space Wing. The station provides launch and orbit support for almost 200 satellites.
The other site is on the Army’s 10,000-acre Kahuku Training Area used for air-assault and infantry training. Two locations for the radar are being considered on the training area.
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