An odd juxtaposition
Published 5:27 pm Wednesday, March 19, 2014
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s “Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX)” vessel dwarfs the 67-foot tall Sequim-Dungeness Light Station as it moves through the strait on its way to Vigor Shipyards Seattle.
The SBX, the largest X-Band radar in the world, is visiting the shipyard for maintenance and upgrades.
The work will begin in mid-May and will take about three months to complete. Missile Defense Agency spokesman Pamela Rogers says the vessel will then be re-stationed “wherever it’s needed.”
The SBX Radar identifies ballistic missile threats and relays that information to the Missile Defense Agency’s battle management, command, control and communications system.
The massive vessel is 240 feet wide, 390 feet long and towers more than 280 feet from its keel to the top of the radar dome.
The main deck, which is larger than a football field, houses living quarters, workspaces and power generation and control rooms while providing the space and infrastructure necessary to support the radar antenna array.
Gazette photo by Mark Couhig
