Japan begins deployment of own ballistic missile defense system: report
30/3/2007 16:54
Japan deployed its first ground- based Patriot Advanced Capability-3
(PAC-3) interceptor system at an air force base in Saitama prefecture on Friday,
Kyodo News said.
The installation of two PAC-3 launchers at the Air
Self-Defense Force's Iruma base north of Tokyo, marks the launch of Japan's own
ballistic missile defense initiative, it said.
Each PAC-3 launcher can load
up to 16 missiles and covers a radius of several dozen kilometers. The launcher
is mobile and may be relocated to other SDF facilities, the report said.
The
deployment at the Iruma base, around one year ahead of schedule, will enable
Japan's Self-Defense Forces to intercept ballistic missiles in areas centering
on Tokyo. In October 2006, the United States have deployed the PAC-3 system at
the US Kadena Air Base in southern Japan's Okinawa.
The missile defense
system is two-phased, in which an incoming ballistic missile is dealt with by
first firing Standard Missile-3 interceptors from Aegis ships at sea when the
missile is still outside the atmosphere, and if that fails, firing a PAC-3 from
the ground.
Tokyo also plans to install its first Standard Missile-3
interceptors on one Aegis ship by the end of 2007.
Japan plans to have a
total of 30 PAC-3 launchers in 10 places, including at bases in Shizuoka, Gifu
and Fukuoka prefectures, and four SM-3-equipped Aegis ships by fiscal 2010.
About 580 billion yen (US$4.92 billion) has been earmarked in the national
budget for missile-defense related costs, the report said.
Xinhua
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