Proposed missile testing, tracking on Guam draws alarm from defense watchdog group (2024)

The military’s plan to conduct up to two missile flight and tracking tests a year out of Andersen Air Force Base has raised alarms with Guam-based defense watchdog group Pacific Center for Island Security, PCIS.

In a newly released 378-page document from the Missile Defense System, the proposed action on Guam would include launching a standard missile or SM-3 or interceptor against a medium-range ballistic missile or target.

Debris from the intercept and physical components from the target and interceptor would fall to the surface of the ocean greater than 88 nautical miles from Guam and sink to the ocean floor.

The 30-day public comment period began June 3 and will be open through July 2.

PCIS Chairman Robert Underwood said a 30-day comment period is “insufficient time.”

“We don’t know who’s affected, we don’t know which property owners should be alerted, and what they should be preparing themselves for,” said Underwood, Guam’s former delegate to Congress and a former president of the University of Guam.

Out of an abundance of caution, select landowners on the boundaries of Andersen Air Force Base will be requested by the military to agree to remain away from their private properties during test events to ensure their safety.

Joint Region Marianas will soon contact affected landowners to obtain landowner consent.

“Everybody talks about a missile attack on Guam, but it’s ironic that the first missile attack will be by a U.S. missile,” Underwood said, referring to the proposed twice-a-year missile testing and tracking out of Andersen.

“The immediate concern is how much disruption will this cause...first we’re talking about missile defense. Now we’re talking about launching offensive missiles on the island. What does that mean in terms of land ownership, in terms of freedom to use your property? All of these things are reshaping our environment and I think it’s time for the people of Guam to step up,” Underwood said on Monday.

The Missile Defense System, along with other military units, issued a voluminous proposed final environmental assessment and a proposed finding of no significant impact to deploy and test missile defense systems, including flight tests and tracking exercises from Andersen or at sea from a U.S. Navy ship.

This is the document that the military wants the public to comment on within a month.

‘It’s disturbing’

Military leaders previously confirmed there could be up to 20 sites across Guam for the proposed 360-degree missile defense system.

Underwood said the MDA notice about missile launches and tracking adds a new dimension.

“(It was) quite a shocker because it calls into question the totality of the plans that are being contemplated...they know where they’re headed but we’re only getting bits and pieces. It’s disturbing,” Underwood said.

Underwood is also concerned about a lack of an organized response from local leaders.

“I know that it’s difficult, I know that it’s complicated, but this is the strongest series of changes to the island that we’re going to experience I would say since the initial base construction right after World War II,” Underwood said.

PCIS is also concerned about what’s not being addressed.

Underwood said no attention is being paid to shelters for the civilian community, for example, or the impact the influx of additional personnel for what could be up to $60 billion in missile defense system spending will have on already scarce local housing.

The PCIS chairman said it’s not too late for leaders to raise concerns.

“In reality, if there were really strong sentiments expressed through leadership and the community, some of these things can be altered, especially issues such as what is the role of civil defense, shelter, and housing,” he said.

But the public needs to be informed, Underwood said, and not through just a public notice that expires in 30 days.

“It has to be digestible information,” he said. “They’re trying to make you drink from a firehose.”

What the document says

Flight tests would begin in the first quarter of fiscal 2025, which is within the October-December period.

They would occur up to two times a year over a period of 10 years.

The proposed action on Guam would include launching a standard missile or SM-3 or interceptor against a medium-range ballistic missile or target.

For a single flight test, multiple interceptors and targets may be used.

A tracking exercise involves using sensors to scan and track a target with no interceptor.

The target would be air-launched from a C-17 or similar aircraft at an altitude greater than 20,000 ft., at least 800 nautical miles east of Guam in the “broad ocean area” of the western Pacific Ocean.

The interceptor would launch from Northwest Field on Andersen Air Force Base.

The first stage booster would separate from the interceptor quickly after launch and would land on a remote, uninhabited area of Andersen.

Intercept of the SM-3 and the target would occur in the outermost layer of Earth’s atmosphere above an ocean area greater than 200 nautical miles from Guam.

Debris from the intercept and physical components from the target and interceptor — the pallet and parachutes used to air-launch the target, and expended booster stages — would fall to the surface of the ocean greater than 88 nautical miles from Guam and sink to the ocean floor.

Future MDA and U.S. Army flight tests and tracking exercises would be conducted in a similar manner.