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Posted on 08/07/2024 6:18:29 PM PDT by Mariner
Guam faces a substantial threat from China's massive missile arsenal, and US Army officials say more air defense capabilities are desperately needed.
Efforts to defend this strategic US territory in the Pacific from a barrage in the event of war are underway, but Army leaders say one of the biggest challenges is fielding integrated systems with deeper magazines to stop air and missile attacks.
At a Center for Strategic and International Studies panel on the defense of Guam late last month, Army Brig. Gen. Frank Lozano, the program executive officer for the US Army's Missiles and Space program, said that he'd called for, among other capabilities, something like the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile but with smaller rounds.
"Because the key is magazine depth. I'm looking for magazine depth," Lozano said, noting that only "having six missiles on a launcher and having about a 45-minute reload time, you're not going to be survivable in a Guam defensive situation."
The Army has said that capabilities like the National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System with a magazine depth of six rounds are insufficient. The NASAMS can fire the AMRAAM.
Instead, the Army wants "an AIM-120D-like capability, but with smaller rounds that fit inside an IFPC Increment 2 launcher holding 18 interceptors," according to a Congressional Research Service report.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
Copy Reagan.
Build and station a very fast, low trajectory IRBM with a nuke warhead and put 100 of them on Guam.
Not unlike the Pershing II.
Let’s hope the missiles don’t all land on the same side of the island and flip it over.
“need more air defenses, Army officials say”
Seems to me that they should be asking Ukraine for that, considering that’s where all the systems now are.
The Island should go turtle until the threat is eliminated.
or poke a hole in it, and it starts leaking
Neocons have no interest in protecting US territory or US forces or US interests.
They just want to fight with Russia. It’s the limit of their vision.
More magazine depth to make those tax dollars go brrrrrrrrrr.
I have come to distrust the DEI/trannie loving military brass.
Throw in multi-$billion weapons and craft systems of questionable functionality and effectiveness and what do we get? Weaker.
Goodness gracious. I about spit my coffee on the screen.
Why are we even spending $$$ billions building bases in Guam? Remember Subic Bay and Clark Air base? Long gone, billions wasted for absolutely no good reason.
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What is the idea, turn Guam over to the Russians?
Russians won’t go there if Guam doesn’t want them there. Let Guam decide who they want there and who they don’t, or if they want anybody at all.
WW2, Germany has the superior Panzer tank which had about a 5:1 kill ratio to the Soviet T34 tank. But the Soviet built about ten times the production of the Panzers. As the Soviets used to say, “best is the enemy of good enough”.
We shouldn’t be in Guam. Why are we there?
Exactly 3 US batteries out of 100 or so are in Ukraine.
Interesting. I was stationed on Guam back in the 1980’s, and I always thought the island had more of an Air Force and Navy presence, not Army. I know a lot has changed there, but how much of a presence does the Army have there where they would be the ones making these requests, and not the AF or Navy.
Because you took it from the Spanish in 1898 and never gave it back.
Because the Navy hasn’t got ground based SAM systems. Its one of those interservice agreements, as in the Army hasn’t got transport planes and must depend on the USAF.
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