Mariellen and I travelled east from Waikiki, past Diamond Head, and around the southeast point of O'ahu. Here we could still see the ball/platform being towed. I later discovered that this giant dome is the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX), part of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. It sits atop a high-tech, fifth-generation semisubmersible oil-drilling platform that is self-propelled and can be positioned any place in the world. It was in Pearl Harbor undergoing modification and maintenance, and is scheduled to move to an area off Adak Island, Alaska later this year.
Cost: $900 million
Craft: Twin-hulled and self-propelled
Length: 380 feet
Height: 280 feet from keel to top of radar dome
Crew: 75 members
Photo album created with Web Album Generator