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China’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to a written request for comment.
Guam is crucial to the U.S.’s island chain strategy to contain China’s military activity in the western Pacific during a conflict. Located about 1,800 miles from China’s coastline, Guam serves as a strategic staging area for projecting U.S. military power in the Indo-Pacific and hosts three major military facilities: Andersen Air Force Base, Naval Base Guam, and Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz.
Guam is within range of Chinese intermediate-range ballistic missiles, prompting the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and the Aegis Guam System. The U.S. also plans to establish a new Patriot air defense battalion on the island.
In August 2023, the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS), a radar capable of defeating next-generation threats, underwent testing at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. During the test, the radar successfully detected, tracked, and classified an air-breathing threat, which was intercepted by the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (PAC-3 MSE).
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Air-breathing propulsion enables missiles to sustain hypersonic flight—more than five times the speed of sound—and maneuver in flight, making them difficult to intercept. The LTAMDS provides 360-degree coverage with three antenna arrays, allowing it to engage multiple threats from any direction simultaneously.
Guam received the LTAMDS prototype last month. General James Mingus stated that the new Patriot battalion set to deploy in Guam will be equipped with this radar system to extend its range and replace the current AN/MPQ-65 radar with limited 270-degree coverage.
These developments reflect ongoing efforts to strengthen U.S. defenses against potential Chinese threats in the region.
