(Iron Dome rumbling)
- In the tiny Pacific paradise of Guam,
Operation Iron Island is under way.
(machines rumbling)
As China ramps its military capabilities in the region,
US forces are testing the Iron Dome,
a defense system capable
of firing missiles that intercept short-range threats,
like rockets, mortars, drones and cruise missiles.
It's not that big.
- No, it's not.
And you can tell how big the interceptors would be
by little pods.
- Right, right.
Chief Foreign Officer Caroline Surprenant specializes
in the army's missile defense systems.
She says the Iron Dome could provide a new layer
of defense as threats in the region grow.
What are these interceptors capable of doing?
- While the platform is fixed for the missile firing unit,
you'll see that the interceptors are able
to maneuver towards the threat.
(sirens ringing) (speaking in foreign language)
- [Shelby] It's the same system Israel uses
to shoot down rockets from Gaza.
And it has been 90% effective.
Testing of the Iron Dome here comes just months
after a top military leader warned
that Guam's defenses are inadequate
against threats from China.
- 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.
- [Shelby] So what exactly is the army testing?
And would the Iron Dome be enough
to protect this US territory,
which is playing an increasingly important role
in America's strategy to counter China?
(pensive music)
It's often said that America's day begins in Guam,
a volcanic island just 36 miles long
and blessed with lush mountains,
beautiful beaches, and stunning sunsets.
West of the International Date Line,
Guam is roughly 1/3 the distance to China and North Korea
as it is to the mainland United States.
And the military bases on Guam are the closest
on American soil to the places
where China has been exerting military influence
in Taiwan and the South China Sea.
- She was here two commanders ago.
- As a result, military officials say
Guam's strategic importance is growing.
What role would Guam play
in the event of a conflict?
- In the event of any military operations
for the United States in the Pacific region,
Guam plays a role.
- Rear Admiral Benjamin Nicholson
oversees all US forces in Guam
and Joint Region Marianas,
part of what the Pentagon says is America's priority theater
and a region in which the military says China
is a top concern.
What does it mean when you hear the Secretary
of Defense say China is the number one pacing threat?
- You always wanna pace against
whoever's the fastest runner,
whoever can go the longest, the farthest.
That's where you set your pace.
And in today's environment,
that really becomes China.
They're doing the most build up,
they're doing it the quickest
with the most advanced weapons.
- Admiral Nicholson and other officials we spoke to said
that the Iron Dome's deployment
is fulfilling a Congressional requirement
and is not a direct response to China.
But it comes as the Defense Department released new details
about China's growing nuclear capabilities.
China has been expanding its nuclear arsenal
much faster than previously thought
according to a recent Pentagon report.
Beijing could have about 700 nuclear warheads
in the next six years,
and defense experts says some
of the weapons it's been testing
could potentially complicate US defenses.
According to the report released in early November,
China may have already established a nuclear triad,
the ability to launch nukes from the air, land and sea.
Beijing is also developing new MIRVs,
intercontinental ballistic missiles capable
of delivering multiple warheads
to multiple targets.
The term MIRV is an acronym
for Multiple Independently Targetable Re-Entry Vehicles.
And over the summer, China surprised US officials
when it tested a hypersonic missile
that orbited the Earth before maneuvering
toward its target.
While the US still has roughly 11 times more missiles
than China according to the Federation
of American Scientists,
the build-up has alarmed some military leaders.
And while the Iron Dome wouldn't be capable
of defending against some
of China's more sophisticated missiles, it could be used
to counter the country's growing fleet of bombers
that are able to launch cruise missiles
in the event of a conflict.
Guam has been threatened before.
In 2017, North Korea said it would fire missiles at Guam.
And in a video released on social media last year,
China's air force hinted
that a US base on Guam could be a target.
(dramatic music)
Walking around the naval and air bases here,
which The Wall Street Journal was given access to,
it's not hard to see why an adversary might take interest
in the major military facilities
and assets that would play a key role in a confrontation.
What do you say to locals here
who are concerned that the more service members,
the more assets arrive on Guam,
the more Guam becomes a target?
- We actually had a lot more people here
during the height of the Cold War.
I wouldn't necessarily would say
that it would make us more of a target
but certainly, we put enough assets here.
It also makes it easier for us
to defend the area when we have additional resources here.
- Guam is already home to a key missile defense system,
which we were invited to film,
along with the Iron Dome.
Just a few hundred yards behind Iron Dome
is the THAAD launcher,
the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system,
and a big reason why Iron Dome
is here in Guam in the first place
is to see if these two systems can work together.
The testing aims to determine
whether data from both systems
can be transmitted back to Hawaii
in a way that allows them to function alongside each other.
THAAD is designed to detect
and intercept ballistic missiles,
like some of the nukes developed by North Korea and China.
But it's not designed to intercept short-range threats,
like cruise missiles,
which fly on flat, direct paths
that are more difficult for missile defense radars
to pick up.
So systems like the Iron Dome
could potentially fill that gap.
- We always like to operate layered.
So we never want just one layer of defense,
so multiple layers is something
that we're always looking to achieve.
- So far, the military says the Iron Dome
has shown encouraging results
in terms of integrating with THAAD
and it has worked well in Guam's hot
and humid environment.
Plus, the testing being done here
could help inform a new defense system being developed
for the army by Dynetics
since the military doesn't plan
to buy additional Iron Domes.
Did we have anything at this lower level before Iron Dome?
- We have other air defense systems
but we don't have a lot of them in our arsenal.
So the more that we're able to use and employ,
the more flexibility we have
with defense and planning.
- [Shelby] The Iron Dome is scheduled to return
to the mainland in December,
and the data from the testing will be analyzed
as part of a bigger plan
to achieve a 360-degree defense of Guam.
(pensive music)