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February 9, 2010
IWG Report 2009
Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
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Thule Early Warning Radar
| Country: | USA |
|---|---|
| Associated Country: | Denmark, Greenland |
Details
The Thule Ballistic Missile Early Warning Radar System (Thule BMEWS) is located at the Thule Air Base in northwestern Greenland. Positioned between Europe and North America, it is a key element of the U.S. defense strategy and an essential part of the U.S. missile defense architecture. Its function is to detect, track, and provide tactical warning and attack assessment of ballistic missiles launched against the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
The Thule BMEWS is a 2-faced phased array radar that operates in the UHF (420-450 MHz) frequency range. It is currently part of the larger BMEWS radar network, which dates back to the early 1960s, and includes radars located in Fylingdales, United Kingdom, and Clear, Alaska. The Thule radar became operational in 1953, and served as a key NATO listening post during the Cold War. It is currently operated by the U.S. Air Force 12th Space Warning Squadron.(1)
In May 2004, the United States and Denmark negotiated a deal to allow Washington to upgrade the Thule BMEWS and use it in a chain of similar installations stretching from Alaska to Australia designed to detect ballistic missile launches. In return, the United States has agreed to adhere to the highest environmental protection standards in the Thule region, as well as to include Greenland in various economic and technical research projects.(2)
Russia immediately raised its concerns over the Thule radar upgrade, claiming that it threatened Russian national security. According to a statement made by the Russian Foreign Ministry, “The United States has more than once assured us that the future missile defense system will not be targeted against Russia. . . . However, the very geography of the radar in Greenland gives us reasons to think that even at this stage the U.S. missile defense could potentially threaten Russia’s national security.”(3) The Russian “national security” interest which could be threatened is the free ride of Russian missiles traveling toward the United States over the North pole.
Footnotes
- GlobalSecurity.org, “Ballistic Missile Early Warning Radar System (BMEWS) at Thule (U),” available at http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/library/report/1999/nssrm/initiatives/thule.htm, accessed on 28 July 2005.
- “Powell to Visit Greenland for Treaty on Modernization of US Military Base,” Agence France Presse, 4 August 2004.
- Andrey Zaitsev and Dmitry Litovkin, “Americans Ought Not to Upgrade Their Radar in Greenland,” Izvestia, 10 August 2004.
Greenland’s Upgraded Early Warning Radar System
The construction phase of the improvements to the Upgraded Early Warning Radar at Thule Air Base in Greenland has now been completed. The Missile Defense Agency awarded Raytheon the project in April 2006. In a press release dated March 20, Raytheon vice president for National & Theater Security Programs Pete Franklin was quoted as saying, "The UEWR at Thule builds on the radars that we've already deployed to Beale Air Force Base, Calif., and Royal Air Force Fylingdales, U.K., and will add significantly more surveillance coverage for the U.S. missile defense mission."
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