National missile defense radar leaves Hawaii
HONOLULU - A powerful floating radar that will be part of the national missile defense system is making its second attempt to reach its home port in Alaska (USA) after being shipped back to Hawaii for repairs to its platform.
Audiostream:
The $815 million X Band radar left Pearl Harbor in late March but had to turn around four days later when sea water leaked through the ballast piping on its platform. The Missile Defense Agency said that repairs to the piping have been completed.
The radar set sail and is expected to arrive at its new port in Adak, a former naval station about 1,200 miles southwest of Anchorage (Alaska), later this spring.
The massive military apparatus, a converted oil drilling rig topped by a giant white globe, rises some 28 stories from its keel to the top of the radar dome.
It is part of a planned missile defense network the USA military is rolling out in the Pacific Rim. The X band radar is so powerful it can identify baseball size objects from thousands of miles away and is designed to differentiate between decoys and real missile warheads.
The damages to the ballast piping affected the radar’s ability to partially submerge and re emerge from the water. The agency has said the financial cost of the damage would be minimal. (AP)
Reacties (1)
| Lodenstein van Jodocus bezorger | vrijdag 12 mei 2006 - 11:43 |  |
| aantal posts:4 | Incredible! This is a monster of a thing! I ask myself only finished or this, if this device at state, no dangerous radiation brings with self with! Very smartly made! Perhaps they can use this device also for civil goals. | |