Sea-Based X-Band Radar Platform (SBX-1)

USA / Hawaii / Pearl City /
 military, radar station, United States Navy
Originally built as a commercial semi-submersible heavy weather oil platform, this unit was acquired by the US Gov't and converted by Boeing into a self-propelled radar tracking station.

The 380ft long, 280 ft high, 50,000 ton platform was completed in between 2000-2005 and is designed to operate as part of the Ballistic Missile Defense System. The SBX uses Ultra High X-Band Radar to target multiple small targets, namely ICBMs, and relay the information to air, sea and ground units for interception and destruction. According to the Director of Missile Defence Agency, the SBX is reportedly able to track an object the size of a baseball over San Francisco from the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, a distance of approximately 2900 miles.

Following a series of operational successes, issues and failures, the platform received a $27 Million upgrade to its targeting and sensor suite in the May of 2011 which pushed its active service date back to 2020, over a decade late. Once operational, the unit is slated to deploy out of Adak, Alaska where multi-million dollar mooring and support infrastructure has been constructed. The vessel is operated by the Military Sealift Command as part of the Special Mission Ships Program while the Missile Defense Agency retains responsibility for communications, the X-band Radar, and for mission integration.

www.msc.navy.mil/inventory/ships.asp?ship=213
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea-based_X-band_Radar
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   21°22'17"N   157°57'34"W

Comments

  • The concept: A floating radar powerful enough to detect and track long-range missiles and distinguish enemy warheads from decoys. Major contractors: Boeing Co. and Raytheon Co. Early optimism: “It is the most powerful radar of its kind in the world and will provide ... a highly advanced detection and discrimination capability.” — Henry A. Obering III, then-director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, May 10, 2006. Problems: The radar’s field of vision is so narrow that it could not reliably track a sequence of incoming missiles. Its sensitive instrumentation is prone to corrosion at sea, and it needs millions of dollars in fuel to operate for even short periods. Disappointment: "Just how this was going to fit into the [missile defense] system — I don’t think anybody paid much attention to that.… SBX was designed for a mission other than that required.” — Radar specialist David K. Barton. Status: Downgraded to “limited test support status.” It sat idle in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for more than eight months in 2013. Cost: $2.2 billion.
This article was last modified 8 years ago