COUNCIL VOTE SET ON MISSILE RADAR SYSTEM.Byline: Rachel Uranga Staff Writer CAMARILLO - The City Council is scheduled to decide today whether to back a proposed missile defense system Noun 1. missile defense system - naval weaponry providing a defense system missile defence system naval weaponry - weaponry for warships housed off the Ventura County coast. Several peace activists have opposed the project, saying that building the defense system will only escalate a nuclear arms race The nuclear arms race was a competition for supremacy in nuclear weapons between the United States and Soviet Union and their respective allies during the Cold War. During the Cold War, in addition to the American and Soviet nuclear stockpiles, other countries also developed . But Mayor Charlotte Craven, who issued the proposals to support the system, called the project ``good for national defense and good for the local economy.'' The Missile Defense Missile defence is an air defence system, weapon program, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception and destruction of attacking missiles. Originally conceived as a defence against nuclear-armed ICBMs, its application has broadened to include shorter-ranged Agency has proposed placing a missile-detecting radar off-shore, in one of six West Coast locations including Naval Station Ventura County at San Nicolas Island San Nicolas Island (sometimes shortened as San Nic or SNI) is the most remote of California's Channel Islands. It is part of Ventura County. The 14,562 acre (58.93 km² or 22. in Oxnard, Naval Station Everett Naval Station Everett is the United States Navy's most modern facility. in Washington, Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor, land-locked harbor, on the southern coast of Oahu island, Hawaii, W of Honolulu; one of the largest and best natural harbors in the E Pacific Ocean. In the vicinity are many U.S. military installations, including the chief U.S. and the Port of Valdez in Alaska. Several public hearings have already taken place in those areas, including one in Oxnard. The advance radar, which looks like a gigantic egg, would be mounted on a nearly 400-foot-wide platform and based at one of the six sites but taken out to the Pacific Ocean for testing by the Missile Defense Agency. The long-range device, called the Sea-Based Test X-Band Radar, is designed to intercept and track missiles that could be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 3,456 acres (1,399 hectares), SW Calif., near Lompoc; chief Pacific coast launch site for military satellites. in neighboring Santa Barbara County to the Reagan Test Site in the Marshall Islands. ``It adds a pretty good layer of defense for security on the West Coast and an ability to shoot down enemy missiles,'' said Jarrod DeGonia, aide to Supervisor Judy Mikels, co-chairwoman of the Regional Defense Partnership. The collective of local officials from Oxnard, Camarillo, Port Hueneme, Ventura and Thousand Oaks, that promotes naval base activities has already endorsed the program. Group members argue that the radar system would make San Nicolas Island an asset for the Navy, ensuring the naval base's viability. It also would provide new business opportunities for several small defense contractors in Ventura County while attracting more missile-related industry to the area, they say. Seaborne sea·borne adj. 1. Conveyed by sea; transported by ship. 2. Carried on or over the sea. seaborne Adjective 1. carried on or by the sea 2. and airborne logistics support would be provided from Port Hueneme and Point Mugu, respectively. Missile Defense Agency personnel would use Naval Base Ventura County facilities for office and warehouse space. Federal officials are expected to release a final environmental study on the installation this July pending public comment. The comment period will end March 24. All concerns can be expressed by calling (800) 823-8823 or e-mailing gmdetries(at)smdc.army.mil. CAPTION(S): map Map: PROPOSED MISSILE-DEFENSE SYSTEM SITE San Nicolas Island |
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