BARKING SANDS — The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee has approved $124 million for various projects at the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility. The funds are part of the fiscal 2001 Department of Defense Appropriations Bill and must be approved
BARKING SANDS — The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee has approved $124
million for various projects at the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range
Facility.
The funds are part of the fiscal 2001 Department of Defense
Appropriations Bill and must be approved by the Senate before they become
available.
If the bill is approved, $44 million will be designated for
various programs to accelerate the development of the Navy’s Theater Ballistic
Missile Defense program, which U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye said represents higher
appropriations than in previous years.
Inouye said the money will be used
to enhance PMRF’s operations with new capabilities and funding sources to set
it apart as the preeminent training, and test and evaluation facility in the
nation.
Included in appropriations specifically earmarked for the Theater
Ballistic Missile Defense program are the following:
* $25 million to
accelerate the Navy’s Theater Air and Missile Defense programs, with $15
million for Navy airborne warning aircraft (E-2C) surveillance research, and
$10 million for cooperative engagement capability improvements. All of this
research will be conducted at PMRF.
* $11.5 million for range upgrades in
the form of new sensors for TBMD testing.
* $5 million to complete the
acquisition of optical sensors that provide for more precise measurements in
theater missile defense testing.
* $3 million for systems support for a new
program that has been installed in conjunction with the Navy’s plans to test
its TBMD programs here.
The proposed appropriation includes $3 million to
repair, operate and maintain flood control and water systems on property
adjacent to the facility.
The repairs are considered critical to base
operations.
“I am pleased that my colleagues recognize Hawai’i’s strategic
military importance, and are supportive of enhancing not only our military, but
also dual-use technological capabilities,” said Inouye.
Dual-use
capabilities are technologies being developed that have military and civilian
applications.
PMRF is the largest multi-environment training range in the
world and employs nearly 900 workers.
Next month, it will play a key role
in the RIMPAC (Rim of the Pacific) naval exercises which bring together the
fleets of Japan, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other
countries for joint training opportunities.
Through its deep ocean, shallow
water, land, mountain top and sky resources, PMRF provides a wide variety of
environments for simulations. The base’s capabilities have also supported a
steady flow of submarines to Pearl Harbor from the West Coast.
