Coast Guard proposes security zone in Hawaii around "giant egg" radar system
SBX-1 serves as a major sensor for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s ground-based midcourse defense program designed to provide data that would enable the U.S. to intercept and destroy incoming ballistic missiles.
SBX-1 is home-ported in Adak, a small Alaskan island located in the Aleutian Island chain, but typically heads for Pearl Harbor, HI, at least once a year for maintenance.
Rather than go through the cumbersome and time-consuming process of seeking annual approvals for a security zone around the vessel, the Coast Guard has proposed establishing a permanent security zone that would extend 500 feet in all directions from the SBX-1, from the surface of the water to the ocean floor, when it is in Hawaii. Entry into, transit through or anchoring within the zone would be prohibited, according to a notice of proposed rulemaking published by the Coast Guard in the Federal Register on January 7.
Boeing is prime contractor on the overall ground-based midcourse defense program and Raytheon manufactured the X-band radar.
"The SBX-1 is easy to recognize because it contains a large white object shaped like an egg supported by a platform that is larger than a football field," explained the Coast Guard notice. "The platform in turn is supported by six pillars similar to those on large oil-drilling platforms."
Comments about the proposed rule can be made until February 6 by visiting the Department of Transportation’s docket management Web site at http://www.regulations.gov and citing Docket No. USCG-2007-0195.
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