Reuters is reporting that the U.S. military is considering converting its Aegis missile defense test site in Hawaii into a permanent “combat-ready facility that would bolster American defenses against ballistic missile attacks, according to sources familiar with the discussions.”

The discussion comes in the wake of North Korea’s fourth nuclear test earlier this month as will as fresh developments in China’s military capabilities.

Reuters states:

Setting up its land version — Aegis Ashore — in Hawaii and linking it with Aegis destroyers would add a permanent missile defense site to the Pacific, providing an extra layer of protection for the U.S. islands and the West Coast at a time when North Korea is improving its missile capabilities.

Ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California provide the current defense for Hawaii and the continental United States against missile attacks.

The conversion would center on Kauai, where the Aegis Ashore test site is located at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on the west side.

U.S. Rep Mark Takai of Hawaii is quoted in the Reuters article saying that the conversion is “the best way to ensure we have protection for Hawaii’s critical defense infrastructure against increasingly belligerent actors that threaten our country.”

But Reuters also notes that there have been protests in the past from Kauai residents about greater militarization of the Garden Isle.