U.S. to deploy intercept missiles in Japan

[David]

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Japan and the United States have agreed to deploy advanced Patriot interceptor missiles on U.S. bases in Japan for the first time, officials said Monday, amid concerns North Korea may test-fire a long-range ballistic missile.

The two sides reached the accord earlier this month and intend to install the weapons as early as possible, a Defense Agency spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity, citing agency rules.

The plan will put Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles -- designed to intercept ballistic missiles, cruise missiles or enemy aircraft -- on U.S. bases in Japan for the first time. A news report, however, said the PAC-3 may be unable to hit North Korea's latest long-range missile.

The Defense Agency spokeswoman said sites and timing for the deployment have not yet been decided.

But a local newspaper reported that the U.S. military would deploy three or four of the surface-to-air missile batteries on the southern island of Okinawa by the end of the year and send an additional 500 to 600 U.S. troops there. Up to 16 missiles can fit in a single PAC-3 battery, according to the system's manufacturer, Lockheed Martin Corp.

The plan was proposed by U.S. officials during a June 17 meeting in Hawaii, Japan's largest newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported, quoting unidentified government officials.

The two countries signed an agreement in 2005 allowing Japan to produce PAC-3 missiles for deployment during fiscal 2006 at Japanese bases, but the plan to deploy them on U.S. bases is apparently separate.

Recent intelligence reports have said North Korea may be fueling a Taepodong-2, one of its most advanced missiles believed capable of reaching parts of the U.S., at a launch site on the country's northeastern coast, sparking concerns Pyongyang may soon test-fire one.

However, Japan's defense chief said that it was not clear if fueling is taking place, a news report said.

Defense Agency chief Fukushiro Nukaga said in a speech delivered in Osaka that while "it appears to be a fact that the missile has been mounted on a launch platform," it was unclear if it was being fueled, Kyodo News agency reported.

The comments marked the first time Nukaga has spoken about the missile's state in a public forum, Kyodo said.

The North had maintained a self-imposed moratorium on such launches since 1999. The United States, Japan and other countries have urged North Korea to halt any plans to test the missile, while Pyongyang has insisted it has the right to do so if it chooses.

It was unclear whether the PAC-3 would be effective in the current standoff. The PAC-3 is aimed at complementing the Standard Missile-3 installed on Aegis-equipped vessels. But PAC-3, a medium- to long-range interceptor, may be unable to shoot down long-range missiles such as Taepodong-2, the Yomiuri said.

Diplomacy aimed at defusing the standoff, meanwhile, gathered pace. South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon was traveling Monday evening to Beijing on a two-day visit to seek China's cooperation in halting any North Korean launch.

"There is a growing need to intensify discussions between South Korea and China on North Korea's recent missile issue and the nuclear issue," the South Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Ban will meet his counterpart, Li Zhaoxing, as well as Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, the ministry said.

China is the North's key ally and is believed able to exert the most influence on Pyongyang. Beijing has also hosted international talks on the North's nuclear program, which haven't convened since November amid a North Korean boycott in anger over U.S. financial restrictions.

Also Monday, a South Korean civic group leader who returned from a trip to Pyongyang said a North Korean official told him there was no reason for his country to fire a missile. The North Korean official wasn't connected to the military and it wasn't clear if his view represented the government's position.

"Is there any reason for the North to start a new war?" Jong Duck Ki, vice chairman of North Korea's Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, told a South Korean delegation last week, according to Yi Il-ha, president of Good Neighbors International, a Seoul-based non-governmental group.

Jong said his "country is arming to ensure no war occurs," Yi told The Associated Press.

In addition to the PAC-3, the missile concerns have prompted the U.S. to move up its planned test of a missile-detecting radar system in northern Japan, Kyodo News agency reported, citing an unidentified U.S. official in Washington.

A test-run of the high-resolution radar, capable of detecting incoming missiles, was initially scheduled to begin weeks later. However, Kyodo said testing could start as early as Monday.

Japanese Defense Facilities Administration Agency, in charge of U.S. military bases in Japan, said the report about the radar installation could not be immediately confirmed.

The X-Band radar had been transferred from a U.S. base in Japan to the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force's Shariki base at Tsugaru, in the country's north. Tsugaru is 580 kilometers (360 miles) northeast of Tokyo.

The radar deployment is part of the joint missile defense project, which began after North Korea fired a missile, part of which flew over Japan, in 1998.

Tokyo and Washington on Friday also signed an agreement to expand their cooperation on a joint ballistic missile defense shield, committing themselves to joint production of interceptor missiles.

[Boats]

This is getting scary Dave. All of a sudden it seems as though the world is getting a little unstable. Why isn't China leaning on them?

South Korea has got to be real nervous about this situation as well.

[locksly]

Missile Defense Test Yields Successful 'Hit to Kill' Intercept
The Missile Defense Agency and the Navy conducted a successful "hit to kill" missile defense test June 22 off the island of Kauai, Hawaii. The test involved the launch of a Standard Missile 3 from the Aegis cruiser USS Shiloh (CG 67) to hit a "separating" target, meaning that the target warhead separated from its booster rocket, officials said.... Missile Defense Test Yields Successful 'Hit to Kill' Intercept
Navy News | June 27, 2006
Washington D.C. - The Missile Defense Agency and the Navy conducted a successful "hit to kill" missile defense test June 22 off the island of Kauai, Hawaii.

The test involved the launch of a Standard Missile 3 from the Aegis cruiser USS Shiloh (CG 67) to hit a "separating" target, meaning that the target warhead separated from its booster rocket, officials said.

"Hit to kill" technology uses direct collision of the interceptor missile with the target, destroying the target using only kinetic energy from the force of the collision.

It was the seventh successful intercept test involving the sea-based component of the nation's ballistic missile defense system in eight attempts, Missile Defense Agency officials noted.

"We are continuing to see great success with the very challenging technology of hit-to-kill, a technology that is used for all of our missile defense ground and sea-based interceptor missiles," said Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry "Trey" Obering, Missile Defense Agency director.

At about noon Hawaii time - 6 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time - a target missile was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands on Kauai. Shiloh's Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense 3.6 Weapon System detected and tracked the target and "developed a fire control solution," officials said. About four minutes later, Shiloh's crew fired the SM-3, and two minutes later the missile intercepted the target warhead outside the Earth's atmosphere, more than 100 miles above the Pacific Ocean and 250 miles northwest of Kauai.

This was Shiloh's first missile defense test since completing modifications and upgrades to its SPY-1 radar and advanced communications system to make it capable of serving as a sea-based missile defense platform. It was also the first time the new weapon system configuration and a new missile configuration were used during the intercept mission.

Three Aegis destroyers also participated in the flight test. One Aegis destroyer, equipped with a modified version of the Aegis ballistic missile defense weapon system, linked with a land-based missile defense radar to evaluate the ability of the ship's missile defense system to receive and use target data via the missile defense system's command, control, battle management and communications architecture.

Two other Aegis destroyers stationed off Kauai, including one from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, performed long-range surveillance and track exercises. This information can also be used to provide targeting information for other missile defense systems, including the ground-based long-range interceptor missiles now deployed in Alaska and California, to protect all 50 states from a limited ballistic missile attack, officials said. This event marked the first time an allied military unit participated in a U.S. Aegis missile defense intercept test.

Another U.S. Navy Aegis cruiser used the flight test to support development of a SPY-1B radar modified by the addition of a new signal processor, collecting performance data on its increased target detection and discrimination capabilities.
target=_blank>http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,103040,00.html?ESRC=navy.nl
U.S. Navy Aegis cruiser Aegis cruiser USS Shiloh (CG 67)


target=_blank>http://navysite.de/cg/cg67.html
Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Weapon System Guides Missile to Seventh Successful Target Intercept


KAUAI, Hawaii, June 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- During a test today the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Weapon System with its Standard Missile (SM)-3 successfully intercepted a ballistic missile target with a separating reentry vehicle outside the Earth's atmosphere. Both the Aegis BMD Weapon System aboard the guided missile cruiser USS Shiloh (CG 67) and range sensors confirmed a direct hit of the missile target during its midcourse flight phase over the Pacific Ocean.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) develops the Aegis BMD Weapon System and serves as the Combat System Engineering Agent for the U.S. Navy and Missile Defense Agency's Aegis BMD Weapon System program.

target=_blank>http://sev.prnewswire.com/aerospace-defense/20060622/PHTH05822062006-1.html

In January 2002, the Secretary of Defense created the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and consolidated the ballistic missile defense programs under the new agency. The rationale behind this decision was the creation of a comprehensive, integrated Ballistic Missile Defense Systems (MBDS) that provides a layered defense capable of countering threat missiles in all phases of flight. Former missile defense acquisition programs are now refered to as BMDS elements. Leading up to this restructure, DOT&E oversight of program activity was very limited. However, involvement in the planning, observation, and evaluation of documentation and test events improved significantly throughout 2002. With the exception of PAC-3, which is in the process of being transitioned to the Army, all of the BMDS elements are in a Research and Development Test and Evaluation phase.
target=_blank>http://www.cdi.org/missile-defense/bmds.cfm
and this web-sight BMDS
target=_blank>http://bmdsidc.mda.mil/

Raytheon's BMDS X-Band Radar Successfully Lifted Aboard the SBX-1 Platform

target=_blank>http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/micro_stories.pl?ACCT=148607&TICK=RTNB2&STORY=/www/story/04-05-2005/0003332314&EDATE=Apr+5,+2005


The JAPAN CARD

The Japan Self-Defense Forces (???l??, Jieitai?), or JSDF, are the military forces in Japan that were established after the end of World War II. The force has been engaged in no real combat but has been engaged in some international peacekeeping operations.[2] Recent tensions, particularly with North Korea[3] and the People's Republic of China[4], have reignited the debate over the status of the SDF and its relation to society. [5]
target=_blank>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Self-Defense_Forces
The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (???????l??, Kaij?? Jieitai?), or JMSDF, is the maritime branch of the Japanese Self-Defense Force, tasked with the naval defense of Japan and formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy after World War II.[1] The force is based strictly on defensive armament, largely lacking the offensive weapons typically handled by naval forces of equivalent size. Currently, its main tasks are to maintain control of the nation's sea lanes and to patrol territorial waters. Recently it has also stepped up its participation in UN-led peacekeeping operations (PKOs).
target=_blank>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Maritime_Self-Defense_Force
and this pic target=_blank>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Rimpac_japanese_navy.jpg