Palau US defense project delayed by construction issues

BY MAUREEN N. MARATITA
Journal Staff

A unique project much lauded as offering long range defense capabilities in the Micronesian region has met problems of construction delay, and in addition the issue of future federal funding.

A view of the first coastal surveillance system installed in Kayangel state. Photo from Journal files

The Tactical Multi-Mission Over the Horizon Radar in Palau, also known as TACMOR, was due for completion in 2026. Now it may not be completed until 2030.

The U.S. Air Force is evaluating the funding to “re-baseline TACMOR from fiscal 2026 through 2030,” a U.S. official told Nikkei Asia, which will affect development, integration and test activities, Nikkei Asia quoted the official as saying.

The Journal reported that CAPE Environmental Management Inc. of Honolulu was awarded a $12.23 million task order for “site preparation in support of construction” for TACMOR in May 2022. The task order also contained an unexercised option which could increase the task order value to $12.74 million. Work was expected to be completed by May 2023.

In late December 2022 Gilbane was awarded $118.4 million to build the structural foundation for TACMOR. According to Journal files, the project includes a transmitter in Babeldaob and a receiver in Angaur.

According to Journal files, discussions began in 2017 with national and state leadership and landowners on surveillance systems, with an eye to also minimizing environmental impact. Radar installations “offer employment opportunities for Palauan citizens to construct and operate the sites and training for Palauan officials to interpret and make use of the collected maritime data,” an August 2017 statement from the Office of the President of Palau said.

According to Journal files, in October 2019 the U.S.-funded a first-of-its-kind Coastal Surveillance System which was completed in Kayangel and Angaur states, to assist in the monitoring of maritime traffic within the nation’s waters and exclusive economic zone. The U.S. Department of Defense, Palau’s Ministry of Justice and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography conducted a ribbon-cutting on Oct. 2 that year, to announce that the CSS had been installed and was operational.

In mid-May 2021, the Journal exclusively reported that Naval Facilities Engineering and Systems Command Pacific had begun soliciting for a Tactical Multi-Mission Over the Horizon Radar to increase maritime awareness in the Asia Pacific region.

BAE Systems designed the radar, according to a presentation related to the solicitation. NAVFAC Pacific’s scope was to provide infrastructure for the TACMOR radar system. “This project is “precedent setting” for future U.S. projects in Palau, due to its size,” NAVFAC said in the presentation.

The Norwegian People’s Aid was to be used for MEC clearance to ensure the area was rid of hidden munitions. The NPA had been in Palau since April 2015 to develop “the knowledge and skill to take care of the types of ammunition left over from World War II.”

Representatives of the Pacific Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center of the Tactical Multi-Mission Over-The Horizon Radar or TACMOR to be built in Palau held a public hearing in Ngaraard in Babeldaob on Oct. 26, 2023, where the draft Environmental Impact Statement and mitigation measures on the construction of radar, were discussed.

Col. Michael Staples, commander of the center’s Detachment 2, speaks at the EIS public hearing in Ngaraard, Palau, on Oct. 26, 2023.

In May, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command officials led “community engagements” in Peleliu to discuss a proposed defense site, which includes repairs and expansion to the Peleliu airstrip and Peleliu’s South Dock. Palau has also been used as a location for regional military exercises.

An ongoing presence in Palau is the Civic Action Team, comprised of Navy Construction Force personnel, or Seabees who are typically on rotation at Camp Katuu in Airai. They are commanded by the U.S. Army.

Long-range surveillance systems underline Palau’s role in regional security.

President Surangel S. Whipps Jr. welcomed the U.S. military presence in Palau. In a statement in 2017, his office said that radar installations “offer employment opportunities for Palauan citizens to construct and operate the sites and training for Palauan officials to interpret and make use of the collected maritime data.”

Whipps also told the Journal, “The [Roman Tmetuchl International] airport in Airai is already crowded. It probably needs more space to park aircraft,” he said. “It’s in the Compact that it’s a joint use area. We want [the U.S.] to use it, because if they use it, it will increase capacity,” Whipps said in 2021. “Military activity in Palau provides another source of economic activity, he said. “It builds up hotels, it provides work and more stability.”

The U.S. Department of the Air Force fiscal 2025 budget is $188.1 billion.

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Palau US defense project delayed by construction issues