HONOLULU — A large missile defense radar mounted on a modified floating oil platform has returned to Hawaii.
Missile Defense Agency spokeswoman Maria Njoku told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser the radar is back at Pearl Harbor for regular maintenance and installation of system upgrades.
She says shore personnel will conduct inspections and surveys and crew members will receive training.
The Missile Defense Agency plans to keep the $2 billion Sea-Based X-Band Radar at sea for more than 300 days in the next fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 to "address the continued missile test activity in North Korea."
The agency plans to have the radar spend 330 days at sea each year between 2021 and 2024.
The military is planning to build a series of land-based sensors that will also track ballistic missiles.