The U.S. Navy USNS Howard O. Lorenzen (T-AGM-25) with the Cobra King radar system, a new, next-generation mobile radar system consisting of S- and X-band phased radar has arrived in Singapore on Apr. 17. Ship tracking data shows the U.S. radar ship capable of tracking missiles entering Singapore waters in Tuas. It is unusual for the ship to be operating near the equator as it is used to track North Korean missile tests off Japan.
USNS Howard O. Lorenzen (T-AGM-25) is a Missile Range Instrumentation Ship built for the U.S. Navy by VT Halter Marine of Pascagoula, Mississippi. VT Halter Marine, Inc. is a shipbuilding company and an American subsidiary of ST Engineering (Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd). The keel was laid during a ceremony on August 13, 2008, and the vessel became operational in 2014. USNS Observation Island (T-AGM-23), which was inactivated for dismantlement earlier in the year.
USNS Howard O. Lorenzen is 12,642 long tons (12,845 t), 534 feet (163 m) in length, and has a beam of 89 feet (27 m). Manned by a combined crew of 88 sailors and civilian mariners, the ship will host embarked military and civilian technicians from other U.S. government agencies. It will be operated by the Military Sealift Command and conduct missions sponsored by the U.S. Air Force. The Howard O. Lorenzen and her Cobra King radar system were declared operational in August 2014.
