PACIFIC MISSILE RANGE FACILITY BARKING SANDS
The world's largest instrumented range — Pacific testing on the shore of Kauai.
OVERVIEW
Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands is the U.S. Navy's principal Pacific instrumented test range, occupying about 2,400 acres on the western shore of Kauai — the northernmost main Hawaiian island — and managing more than 2.1 million square miles of controlled ocean and airspace surrounding the Hawaiian island chain. The U.S. Navy describes PMRF as the world's largest instrumented multi-environmental range, capable of simultaneously supporting surface, subsurface, air, space, and ballistic missile defense operations on a single integrated range. About 800 active-duty Sailors, civilian employees, and contractors work at the host facility.
PMRF's mission spans Pacific Fleet training, Navy and joint weapons test and evaluation, missile defense intercept testing, and select space launch and tracking operations. The range is the U.S. Navy's premier Pacific site for Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) test events, supporting the development and operational test of the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor family and the wider sea-based ballistic missile defense system. PMRF also routinely supports major Pacific Fleet exercises including Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC), Pacific Fleet weapons system accuracy test events, and submarine, surface, and air community periodic recertification. Resident detachments from the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Naval Sea Systems Command, the Missile Defense Agency, and other joint and partner-nation organizations augment the host PMRF staff.
KEY FACTS
- MissionWorld's largest instrumented multi-environmental range, supporting fleet training and weapons test and evaluation
- Range AreaMore than 2.1 million square miles of controlled ocean and airspace, plus underwater ranges
- Strategic CapabilityPremier Pacific site for Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) test events
- Geographic SettingWestern shore of Kauai, the northernmost main Hawaiian island
- Multi-EnvironmentalSingle range supports surface, subsurface, air, space, and missile defense operations
HISTORY
Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands traces its origins to 1956, when the U.S. Navy established a small instrumented range and operations site on the western shore of Kauai to support Pacific weapons test and evaluation. The site at Barking Sands — named for the unusual sound made by the local beach sand under foot — had been used by the U.S. Army during World War II as a small auxiliary airfield, and the available land, isolated location, and access to the open Pacific made it well suited to the post-war Navy missile and weapons test mission. Through the late 1950s and 1960s, PMRF grew steadily as the Navy expanded its Pacific test infrastructure to keep pace with the increasing complexity of Cold War weapons systems.
Through the Cold War, PMRF developed into the U.S. Navy's principal Pacific test range, with progressively more sophisticated instrumentation, telemetry, and range safety capabilities. The range supported Pacific Fleet weapons accuracy testing for surface ship gun and missile systems, submarine torpedo and missile testing on the integrated underwater ranges, and Pacific Fleet aviation testing on the surface and air ranges. The range also supported select space launch and tracking activities, taking advantage of Kauai's low-latitude location and unobstructed open-ocean range to the south.
The post-Cold War decades brought a transformation of PMRF's mission set. Beginning in the late 1990s and accelerating through the 2000s, the U.S. Navy and the Missile Defense Agency selected PMRF as the principal Pacific test site for the new sea-based ballistic missile defense system, anchored on the Aegis weapons system and the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor. Through the 2000s and 2010s, PMRF supported a long series of Aegis BMD intercept test events, including increasingly capable engagement scenarios against ballistic missile targets representative of the threats faced by U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific. PMRF also provided range and instrumentation support for the Operation Burnt Frost intercept of the failed U.S. satellite USA-193 by an Aegis cruiser-launched SM-3 in February 2008.
Today, PMRF continues to serve as the U.S. Navy's premier Pacific test range and one of the most capable instrumented multi-environmental ranges in the world. The base supports a continuous tempo of fleet training, weapons test and evaluation, missile defense testing, and partner-nation exercise support, all from its compact host installation on the western shore of Kauai.
MAJOR COMMANDS & TENANT UNITS
- Pacific Missile Range Facility (host)
- PMRF Range Operations Center
- Naval Surface Warfare Center detachment (Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense test support)
- Resident Missile Defense Agency test detachments
- Visiting Pacific Fleet, joint, and partner-nation test and exercise units
LOCATION & GEOGRAPHY
NOTABLE EVENTS
- 1956PMRF EstablishedPacific Missile Range Facility established at Barking Sands on the western shore of Kauai to support Navy and joint missile and weapons testing in Pacific waters.
- 2002BMD Test SitePMRF emerged as the U.S. Navy's principal Pacific test site for Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense intercept testing, supporting the development of the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) and the broader sea-based BMD program.
- 2008USA-193 Intercept SupportPMRF provided range and instrumentation support for the Operation Burnt Frost intercept of the failed U.S. satellite USA-193 by an Aegis cruiser-launched SM-3 in February 2008.