Massive radar not leaving Seattle yet

The Missile Defense Agency's Sea-Based X-band Radar vessel is moored

at Vigor Shipyard on Seattle's Harbor Island on Wednesday, May 11, 2011.

(Joshua Trujillo, seattlepi.com)

July 19, 2011 by Aubrey Cohen - seattlepi.com

The Boeing-built Sea-Based X-band Radar (pdf) is moving around in Seattle’s Elliott Bay, but it’s not leaving yet.

The billion-dollar Missile Defense Agency radar is undergoing maintenance and upgrades at Vigor Shipyards, under a subcontract from Boeing. It’s moving to making room for a similarly massive Shell oil platform, which will take the inside slip at Vigor, Boeing and Missile Defense Agency spokespeople said Tuesday.

The radar is designed to track missiles and relay targeting data to a laser. It arrived iat Vigor in May and is expected to remain until August. Upgrades include adding the ability to plug into shore power, rather than having to use its six diesel generators while in port, and adding redundant power and radar systems.

The entire vessel is about 240 feet wide, 390 feet long and 280 feet from the keel to the top of the radar dome. That’s about the height and width of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, but one-third the length.

It typically cruises at about 7 knots, although it can go a little faster, can semi-submerse for extra stability and can operate in the roughest seas.

A protection zone remains in place, prohibiting vessels within 100 yards of the radar.