The US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has awarded Lockheed Martin a contract value round $500 million to develop the efficiency of the Aegis Weapon System for the safety of the strategic island of Guam from the Chinese missile risk.
“Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems have received a $527,740,864 Missile Defense Agency contract to expand the performance of the Aegis Weapon System to implement Integrated Air and Missile Defense capabilities on Guam,” the Department of Defense stated in a press launch issued on December 28.
The work on the mission shall be carried out over the following 5 years in Moorestown, New Jersey, with a scheduled completion date of December 31, 2027, as per the press launch.
The MDA revealed a discover in July that stated it intends to award a sole supply contract to Lockheed Martin for the Aegis Guam System (AG) by way of a Request For Information (RFI) except any alternate sources had been discovered, which was extremely unbelievable.
This was after the company disclosed its chosen structure for the protection of Guam in opposition to air and missile threats in March, which incorporates cell models utilizing the Aegis Combat System, the Standard Missile (SM)-3 and SM-6, the Patriot air-and-missile protection system, and the US Army’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS) in addition to sustaining the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system already on Guam since 2013.
The present Guam missile protection structure contains the THAAD system and Aegis missile defense-capable Navy ships.
The general plan appears to construct upon that structure by integrating the SM-3 and SM-6 ballistic missiles and Patriot air-and-missile protection system with the THAAD by way of the US Army’s IBCS. This command-and control-system connects sensors and shooters on the battlefield.
According to a earlier interview with Lockheed Martin’s vice chairman and common supervisor of the corporate’s built-in warfare methods and sensors enterprise, Jon Rambeau, the Aegis command and management suite would be the core of the structure. The firm expects to “provide the pipe to IBCS to access Army capabilities that will be residing on Guam” in addition to present “the battle link with the Lockheed Martin Command and Control Battle Management System (C2BMC).”
Such a missile protection structure, the MDA believes, ought to be capable of present 360-degree safety in opposition to enemy cruise, ballistic, and hypersonic missiles.
It can be doable that the MDA might later incorporate extra mid-range succesful missile protection methods or add different capabilities just like the Raytheon Lower-Tier Air & Missile Defense Sensor radar.
US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM)
The US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) has been vocal about needing these defensive capabilities on Guam by 2026. It is strategically important for future US army efforts to maintain China from attacking Taiwan.
The island of Guam homes two strategic US bases: 1) Naval Base Guam and a couple of) Andersen Air Force Base (AFB). Naval Base Guam is a homeport for the 2 US Navy submarine tenders and 4 US Navy nuclear-powered submarines, and it helps the US Pacific Fleet forces.
While Andersen AFB hosts the US Air Force’s (USAF’s) B-1, B-2, or B-52 heavy bomber rotations from the American mainland. A brand new base has additionally been constructed between the above two army services, which share joint management.
Over the years, China’s People’s Liberation Army has developed an enormous arsenal of long-range, precision-guided weapons to be fielded as layers of Anti Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) defenses to maintain the US army from reaching key areas throughout large-scale typical conflicts.
These comprise numerous surface-to-surface and air-to-surface missiles that may attain Guam, the US ahead army hub outdoors the primary island chain, and would undoubtedly be a key goal for the PLA missiles.
As EurAsian Times reported earlier, China has been refining its ship-killing abilities from placing giant, carrier-sized targets to smaller ships and naval bases in a goal vary in Xinjiang’s distant Taklamakan desert with targets constructed within the form of Guam, American plane service and no less than two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.
According to consultants, the character, location, and strikes on these mock-up layouts recommend the targets had been meant for testing hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs).
China is thought to have been growing a number of ASBMs, one among which is the land-based DF-26, also called the “Guam Express,” due to its vary of as much as 3,000 miles (5,000km), sufficient to succeed in the island of Guam.
In 2020, China launched a propaganda video depicting a simulated assault on Andersen AFB on Guam, making no effort to cover its intentions.
