Sea Based X-Band Radar (SBX) – Arrives in Seattle

The Sea Based X-Band Radar arrived at Seattle’s Harbor Island on May 10, 2011 for upgrades and repairs at Vigor Shipyards (f/k/a Todd Shipyards). This massive radar is one of the sensors which helps to protect the USA from ballistic missile attack. It is said it is sensitive enough to track a soft ball sized object in Seattle if it were anchored off the east coast of the US. The radar is as tall as a 28 story building and is mounted on a semi-submersible oil drilling rig. The SBX radar is in the shipyards for upgrades and repairs to be accomplished by the Boeing Company and should be completed in about three months.  I have posted a photo of the radar at Harbor Island as part of a panorama of the Seattle skyline at night.  A couple weeks late, I visited Victor Steinbreuck Park next to the Pike Place Market, to shoot some photos of the SBX during the daylight. On July 19, 2011 the SBX was towed out of the shipyards into west Elliott Bay to allow an oil derrick drilling rig from Alaska to be towed into the shipyards for repairs.   Lastly, on Saturday August 20, the SBX leaves Seattle after repairs are completed.