The head of Indo-Pacific Command pitched lawmakers on building an Aegis Ashore
missile defense facility to guard the U.S. territory, warning that China’s
missile arsenal threatens Guam and the United States will have to “fight for it”
The proposed Guam Defense System would potentially consist of Lockheed Martin’s Aegis Combat System
Baseline 10; a solid-state radar such as the Raytheon SPY-6 or a variant of the Lockheed SPY-7;
the BAE Systems Mark 41 Vertical Launching System, and SM-3 or SM-6 Missile.
This, if deployed will be a major move by the U.S.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why the head of the U.S Indo-Pacific Command
wants the Aegis Ashore system in Guam? Let's get started.
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Adm. Phil Davidson told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the island needs
protection as the home of 170,000 U.S. citizens and service members, a deepwater strategic port,
fuel and munition stores and an airfield used to project U.S. power.
Guam would be key to responding to any conflict in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Guam is a target today. It needs to be defended,
and it needs to be prepared for the threats that will come in the future,” Davidson said.
He added later: “China’s own Air Force has put out a propaganda video showing their H-6
bomber force attacking Andersen Air Force Base at Guam and distributed that quite publicly.”
In this context, viewers may note that images of Chinese H-6N missile carrier aircraft
carrying an outsized missile underneath its fuselage emerged in Nov last year.
Still captures from a video showing the H-6N carrying this missile first appeared on Twitter
on Nov. 5, 2020. They came from a clip that had been posted on the
Chinese social network Weibo, but which appears to have been subsequently taken down.
The shape of the missile seems to indicate that the missile could be a hypersonic one.
As per the image, the missile is about one-third the length of the H-6N
and is likely to be 40 feet.
Mr. Davidson added further technical insight.
He stated, while an Aegis Ashore system would counter ballistic missiles or cruise missiles
launch from the air, land and sea, the island’s existing
anti-ballistic missile capability ― the Terminal High Altitude Area
Defense system ― “is not capable of meeting the current trajectory of threats from China”
“It’s the key piece that we’re missing, that signals to the region that the U.S. is a reliable
and committed security partner, that we are there to defend not only U.S. territory but our
interests abroad,” Davidson said of Aegis Ashore. He added it would show China it “can’t knock
Guam out with an easy shot and keep us out of the fight to present a fait accompli” against Taiwan.
The Aegis Missile Defense System is a United States Department of Defense
(DoD), Missile Defense Agency program developed to provide missile defense against short to
intermediate-range ballistic missiles as well as cruise missiles.
Aegis BMD is designed to intercept ballistic missiles post-boost phase and prior to reentry.
It enables Aegis-equipped vessels like Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers
to shoot down enemy ballistic missiles by expanding the Aegis Combat System
with the addition of the AN/SPY radar and Standard missile technologies.
Aegis Ashore is the land variant of the system. Basic concept and technology remain the same,
it is only that it deployed as a missile defense site, instead of being deployed
in surface vessels. The first site to be declared operational was in Romania in 2016.
The heart of the AEGIS system will be an automatic detect and track,
multifunctional active electronically scanned array AN/SPY-6 or a variant of AN/SPY-7.
This high-powered radar is able to perform search, track and missile
guidance functions simultaneously with a capability of over 100 targets.
A conventional, mechanically rotating radar "sees" a target when the radar beam strikes that target
once during each 360-degree rotation of the antenna. A separate tracking
radar is then required to engage each target. By contrast, the computer-controlled AN/SPY-6
or AN/SPY-7 brings these functions together within one system. The phased array
can concentrate energy where it is needed. The operator can boost the range and resolution in
a particular direction without blinding the ship to threats from another side. The fixed arrays of
"SPY" send out beams of electromagnetic energy in all directions simultaneously, continuously
providing a search and tracking capability for hundreds of targets at the same time.
The BAE Systems Mark 41
Vertical Launching System is versatile and can accommodate different types of missiles.
The Aegis Ashore batteries will be armed with SM-6 interceptors or SM-3 Block IIA
Manufactured by U.S. defense contractor Raytheon, SM-6 is a supersonic Mach 3.5+ missile interceptor
with an estimated range of over 180 miles or 289 kilometers.
It is designed for extended-range anti-air warfare (ER-AAW) purposes providing
capability against fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles,
anti-ship cruise missiles in flight, both over sea and land, and terminal ballistic missile defense.
The SM-3 Block IIA has been under joint development by
Raytheon & Mitsubishi Heavy Industries It is designed to destroy short-to
intermediate-range ballistic missile threats. SM-3 Block IIA interceptors have an extended
range of 2,500 km or 1,350 miles. The successful test in Nov last year
demonstrated its ability to destroy an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Guam's location is strategic in nature and provides the U.S military a very important
foothold in the Indo Pacific and can be used to launch military interventions in the region.
The Chinese military strategists are aware of it and would like to nullify this scenario.
As evident specific weapons have been developed for this purpose.
One such example is the DF-26 ballistic missile
The DF-26 has a range of 4,000 km or 2,500 mi and is thought to be designed
to conduct precision nuclear or conventional strikes against ground and naval targets.
The missile is referred to by netizens as the "Guam Express" or "Guam Killer".
It is apparent that Guam needs more protection and Aegis Ashore batteries will be a good fit.