• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

  • Policy Issues
    • Fact Sheets
    • Countries
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Non-Proliferation
    • Nuclear Security
    • Biological & Chemical Weapons
    • Defense Spending
    • Missile Defense
    • No First Use
  • Nukes of Hazard
    • Podcast
    • Blog
      • Next Up In Arms Control
    • Videos
  • Join Us
  • Press
  • About
    • Staff
    • Boards & Experts
    • Jobs & Internships
    • Financials and Annual Reports
    • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • Search
You are here: Home / Press Room / Center in the News / Global Security Newswire Story on Permanent Missile Defense in Guam Quotes Kingston Reif

July 9, 2013

Global Security Newswire Story on Permanent Missile Defense in Guam Quotes Kingston Reif

Guam Legislators Want Missile Defenses Made Permanent

By Rachel Oswald
July 9, 2013

WASHINGTON — A number of Guam legislators are calling for the U.S. military to leave in place on their island ballistic missile defenses that were set up on a temporary basis this spring amid saber-rattling by North Korea.

Last week, a trio of local Guam lawmakers introduced a resolution in the Guam legislature that urges the U.S. government “to permanently station a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system and a Patriot Missile Defense System on Guam.”

Guam is home to a major U.S. navy base from which the United States projects submarine and strategic air power throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The U.S. territory might be vulnerable to North Korea’s intermediate-range Musudan missile, though the range of the ballistic missile appears not yet to be known in the West.

In early April, the Defense Department announced the fielding to Guam of a THAAD battery. Such units comprise a truck-mounted launcher, interceptors, radar, and fire control. The launcher can be equipped with up to eight missile interceptors. The technology has the capability to eliminate short- and medium-range ballistic missiles in their final flight stages, inside or outside of Earth’s atmosphere.

The antimissile deployment came on the heels of threats by the North Korean People’s Army Supreme Command that it would carry out attacks on “the U.S. mainland and on Hawaii and Guam and other operational zone[s] in the Pacific.” Since then, tensions have cooled substantially and Pyongyang is making overtures at diplomatic re-engagement.

Click here to read the full story.

Posted in: Center in the News, Press Room

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • We should observe July 16 but celebrate July 17 July 16, 2025
  • The Korean Peninsula Has Seen Grand Overtures Come and Go – What Matters Now is Whether Small Steps Can Still Lead Somewhere July 9, 2025
  • Israeli nuclear weapons at the heart of a strategic taboo July 4, 2025
  • Fiscal Year 2026 Defense Budget Request Briefing Book July 3, 2025
  • After US and Israeli strikes, some nuclear experts say Iran could be more dangerous July 2, 2025

Footer

Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

820 1st Street NE, Suite LL-180
Washington, D.C. 20002
Phone: 202.546.0795

Issues

  • Fact Sheets
  • Countries
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Non-Proliferation
  • Nuclear Security
  • Defense Spending
  • Biological and Chemical Weapons
  • Missile Defense
  • No First Use

Countries

  • China
  • France
  • India and Pakistan
  • Iran
  • Israel
  • North Korea
  • Russia
  • United Kingdom

Explore

  • Nukes of Hazard blog
  • Nukes of Hazard podcast
  • Nukes of Hazard videos
  • Front and Center
  • Fact Sheets

About

  • About
  • Meet the Staff
  • Boards & Experts
  • Press
  • Jobs & Internships
  • Financials and Annual Reports
  • Contact Us
  • Council for a Livable World
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

© 2025 Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
Privacy Policy

Charity Navigator GuideStar Seal of Transparency