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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

SBX-1

International Radio Call Sign:
Alpha - Alpha - Mike - Delta AAMD

Sea Based X-Band Radar Platform:

SBX-1 consists of radar mounted on CS-50 twin-hulled semi-submersible drilling rig

Platform converted in 2002 at AmFELS, Brownsville, TX.

Radar mounted at the Kiewit yard in Ingleside, TX.

Radar range: 1,242 miles

First deployed in 2006

Homebased at Adak, Alaska although she has never put into port at Adak

SBX-1 is part of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system being deployed by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA)

The platform is designed to roam the Oceans under her own power on alert to detect incoming ballistic missiles

Specifications:
Displacement 50,000 long tons (when ballasted)
Length 389'
Beam 238'
Draft 33' (transit)

Complement

CIVMAR 33

Sponsors and Civil Service 54

Speed unknown

Range unknown

Power Plant

six 12-cylinder Caterpillar diesels 3.6 megawatt generators

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
	537k	Sea Based X-Band Radar (SBX) is slowly loaded onto the heavy lift vessel MV Blue Marlin as the ship semi-submerges in the Gulf of Mexico, 14 November 2005. *SBX* will provide missile tracking, discrimination and hit assessment functions to the Ground-based Midcourse Defense element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System. It will support interceptor missiles located in Alaska and California if required to defend against a limited long-range missile attack on the United States. Home-ported in Adak, Alaska, *SBX* can move throughout the Pacific Ocean in support of advanced missile defense testing and defensive operations. US Department of Defense photo # 051114-D-0000X-001 Gulf of Mexico (Nov. 14 2005)	Robert Hurst
060109-N-3019M-010	301k	The heavy lift vessel MV Blue Marlin enters Pearl Harbor, Hawaii with the Sea Based X-Band Radar (SBX-1) aboard after completing a 15,000-mile journey from Corpus Christi, Texas. *SBX* is a combination of the worlds largest phased array X-band radar carried aboard a mobile, ocean-going semi-submersible oil platform. It will provide the nation with highly advanced ballistic missile detection and will be able to discriminate a hostile warhead from decoys and countermeasures. *SBX* will undergo minor modifications, post-transit maintenance and routine inspections in Pearl Harbor before completing its voyage to its homeport of Adak, Alaska in the Aleutian Islands. US Navy photo #'s 060109-N-3019M-011 Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (Jan. 9, 2006) 060109-N-3019M-010 Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (Jan. 9, 2006) and 060109-N-3019M-012 Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (Jan. 9, 2006) by JO2 Ryan C. McGinley	Robert Hurst
060109-N-3019M-011	230k
060109-N-3019M-012	266k
	230k	*SBX-1* arrives in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, aboard the heavy lift vessel MV Blue Marlin, 9 January 2006. US Navy photo # 060109-N-001 Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (Jan. 9, 2006) Missile Defense Agency (MDA) photo.	Robert Hurst
	470k		Robert Hurst
	208k	The heavy lift vessel MV Blue Marlin sits moored in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, with the Sea Based X-Band Radar SBX-1 aboard after completing a 15,000-mile journey from Corpus Christi, Texas. *SBX-1* is a combination of the world's largest phased array X-band radar carried aboard a mobile, ocean-going semi-submersible oil platform. It will provide the nation with highly advanced ballistic missile detection and will be able to discriminate a hostile warhead from decoys and countermeasures. *SBX-1* will undergo minor modifications, post-transit maintenance and routine inspections in Pearl Harbor before completing its voyage to its homeport of Adak, Alaska in the Aleutian Islands. US Navy photo # 060110-N-3019M-001 Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (Jan. 10, 2006) by MC2 Ryan C. McGinley	Tommy Trampp
	72k	*SBX-1* at Pearl Harbor after being offloaded from the heavy lift vessel *Blue Marlin* in January 2006.	US Department of Defense
	71k		US Department of Defense
	55k	*SBX-1* underway, date and location unknown.	US Missile Defense Agency
	698k	*SBX-1* under tow at Seattle, WA. date unknown.
	169k	*SBX-1* at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in 2013. The SBX is a combination of the world's largest phased-array X-band radar carried aboard a mobile, ocean-going semi-submersible oil platform.	Lee Wahler
	65k	*SBX-1* under tow 13 April 2016. *SBX-1* was being moved closer to North Korea. The platforms powerful and mobile radar is part of the U.S. ballistic missile defense network. It’s designed to detect and track long-range ballistic missiles in midcourse. DOD photos.	Tommy Trampp
	127k		Tommy Trampp