The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports that “Garden Isle missile site will expand: Testing for a land-based defense system would bring a new complex to the island”:
The Pentagon is planning a $278 million program to increase missile testing on Kauai that would improve the protection of Europe from ballistic missiles from countries such as Iran, and provide an additional element of defense for Hawaii from North Korean threats, officials said.
The “Aegis Ashore” testing would have a land-based missile defense capability similar to the successful ship-based ballistic missile systems on 21 U.S. Navy ships, including six cruisers and destroyers based at Pearl Harbor.
The Obama administration announced in September 2009 plans for the “Phased Adaptive Approach” for the protection of Europe using Navy ships with ballistic missile defense and two land-based versions, probably in Romania and Poland, that would each have 24 SM-3 missiles.