A Standard Missile-3 Block IIA is test-fired from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Dec. 10, 2024. (Nancy Jones-Bonbrest/Missile Defense Agency)
Construction of a command center for a missile defense system on Guam is scheduled to begin this month, another in a series of federal government expenditures for military infrastructure on the island.
Granite Construction Inc., of Watsonville, Calif., and Obayashi Corp., of Tokyo, secured a $158 million contract for the work, which will “support future missile defense infrastructure to be installed under a separate contract,” according to a July 17 announcement from Granite.
Over the past two years, the same joint venture has obtained contracts for other defense-related work on Guam worth another $378 million.
Construction will include a command center and “associated power and security infrastructure to house command and control systems and personnel for the Guam Defense System,” said Missile Defense Agency spokesman Fred Hair.
The command center is a “key element” of the proposed Enhanced Integrated Air and Missile Defense System that aims to provide continuous 360-degree protection against cruise, ballistic and hypersonic missile attacks from regional adversaries, Hair told Stars and Stripes by email Monday.
“The Command Center will include functional areas to accommodate personnel, computing equipment, user interfaces, and communications needed for planning, controlling, and directing mission activities,” he wrote.
Construction is scheduled to begin late this month and conclude in July 2028, according to Granite’s announcement. The center is planned for a 120-acre site in Finegayan, just south of Marine Corps Camp Blaz, where the joint venture is working on a variety of other projects.
The defense system is planned to include radars, sensors, missile launchers, missile interceptors and support facilities at sites around Guam. Some elements could be in place next year, according to the project’s Environmental Impact Statement in May 2023.
Army Lt. Gen. Robert Rasch, at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in May, estimated the project’s cost at $8 billion.
The Defense Department has long pursued a missile defense system for Guam. The former head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, retired Adm. John Aquilino, described the system as the “top homeland defense priority” for his command, according to written testimony submitted during a March 2024 hearing of the House Armed Services Committee.
However, the project has also met resistance from locals and has been criticized for its potential environmental impacts and lack of overall planning.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a May 22 report that DOD “lacks a strategy that outlines how and when responsibilities for operating and sustaining” elements of the system will transfer to their lead organizations.
GAO also found that “DOD has not fully identified the required number of personnel or completed a deployment schedule.” Without such information, the department will likely face challenges in “ensuring adequate support infrastructure at installations in Guam for deployed personnel and their families.”
