Yomiuri Shimbun: New Threat Calls for New Defense Initiative
October 11, 2006 :: Yomiuri Shimbun :: News
The Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun suggests that North Korea’s nuclear test will lead to calls for a new Japanese defense initiative, including increased missile defense and perhaps a preemptive strike capability. It notes that North Korea has deployed about 200 No-dong missiles capable of striking most of the Japanese archipelago, and has tested them as recently as July 2006. Although most experts believe that North Korea remains unable to develop nuclear warheads small enough to be carried by these missiles, the Yomiuri Shimbun points out that the relatively small seismic waves observed after the recent nuclear test may indicate that North Korea is trying to decrease the size its nuclear bombs. The paper suggests that calls for the “early development of missile defense” and “ability to attack missile bases in North Korea preemptively” are likely to gain strength in coming months. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Nuclear Weapons, North Korea, Japan
» Missile details: No Dong 1, NHK-1/2
» Missile system details for: Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense
Japan Orders 16 PAC-3 Missiles from U.S.
October 11, 2006 :: Jane's Information Group :: News
Japan has ordered sixteen Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) interceptor missiles from the U.S., reports the October 11 issue of Jane’s Defence Weekly. The Pentagon informed Congress of the planned $144 million deal on September 29. The main supplier would be defense contractor Lockheed Martin. The proposed deal follows a similar notification issued in September 2004 involving the sale to Japan of 20 PAC-3 missiles with associated equipment and services valued at up to $79 million. (Link)
» More stories on: Japan, Allies
» Missile system details for: Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3), Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense
Congressman Duncan Hunter Letter to President Calls for Immediate Programmatic Additions to Missile Defenses
October 10, 2006 :: U.S. House of Representatives :: News
Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, yesterday sent an important letter to President George Bush calling for immediate programmatic additions to U.S. missile defenses. Such systems, he stated, should be “capable of addressing the full range of North Korean missile-based threats to the United States, our deployed forces, and our allies.” First and foremost, the U.S. must “accelerate further the schedule for fielding Aegis ballistic missile defense capabilities,” either solely Standard Missile-3 interceptors or an appropriate combination of both SM-2 and SM-3 interceptors. Second, the U.S. must “maintain an optimal air defense capability on the peninsula” by deploying sufficient numbers of ground-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) systems. Third, the U.S. must “accelerate the deployment of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities,” focusing on Northeast Asia. Congressman Hunter offered to serve as an advocate in Congress for any reprogramming requests submitted by the White House to carry out these critical national security objectives.
The Congressman’s recommendations are similar to those put forth by the Independent Working Group in its recent report, Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century, which strongly advocates the expansion of sea-based missile defenses, as well as the strengthening of missile defense collaboration with vital allies such as Japan.
Full text of Duncan Hunter letter to President Bush: (More »»»)
» Read the 2007 report: The Independent Working Group on Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century (8 MB)
» More stories on: Policy, North Korea, Japan
» Missile system details for: Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3), Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Sieff: New Japanese Prime Minister an “Enormous Boost” to U.S Missile Defense
October 6, 2006 :: UPI :: Analysis
Shinzo Abe’s smooth accession as prime minister of Japan will give an enormous boost to the U.S. missile defense program, writes Martin Sieff in the UPI. He notes that “Abe, the handpicked successor of outgoing Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, has made very clear he intends not only to stick with his predecessor’s groundbreaking programs on ballistic missile defense cooperation with the United States but even to accelerate them.” The new prime minister has inherited a large treasury and a robust domestic economy, meaning that “the flood of Japanese high-tech orders, especially for co-production of the Patriot, will continue as Koizumi and President George W. Bush anticipated.” In addition, Abe has made it clear that any diplomatic outreach toward Beijing, or anywhere else, “will not come at the expense of crash co-development of a broad range of BMD systems.” For these reasons, Japan will remain America’s most important global ally in the development of missile defense. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Japan, Analysis, Allies
» Missile system details for: Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense
Feulner on U.S.-Japanese “Special Relationship”
October 3, 2006 :: The Heritage Foundation :: Analysis
Ed Feulner, president of the Heritage Foundation, argues persuasively that the U.S. must establish a “special relationship” with Japan, as it has with Britain. The U.S. and Japan share similar goals vis-à-vis Asia, including the peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula, maintaining stability in the Taiwan Strait, and ensuring the security of global energy supplies. In addition, Japan sits on the front lines of virtually any future showdown in Asia. “Take North Korea’s recent missile launches,” writes Feulner. “If those missiles worked, they could potentially reach American shores. But Japan knows North Korea could attack it at any time. And while Japan knows it can count on U.S. support, having its own skilled military could help deter North Korean aggression.” Japan also could serve as a check on China, which is rising economically and militarily. “Together, Tokyo and Washington can help China integrate into the world as a responsible stakeholder in the existing international system and eventually even move toward a democratic system of government,” suggests Feulner.
Regarding ballistic missile defense, the “special relationship” between the U.S. and Japan is already well underway. In December 2004, the two nations signed an agreement allowing for extensive missile defense cooperation, including the mutual transfer of related technologies. In December 2005, Japan announced that it would pay one third to one half of the cost of the joint missile defense shield, $1-1.5 billion of the estimated $3 billion total cost. Shortly thereafter, U.S. State Department released an official statement that Japan had become the U.S.’s most significant missile defense partner. Japan is currently working with the U.S. to develop and deploy the Aegis sea-based missile defense system, which features Standard Missile-3 interceptor missiles deployed on Aegis-equipped cruisers and destroyers; as well as Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors; and tracking sensors. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Japan, Analysis, Allies
» Missile system details for: Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense
U.S. Army Activates X-Band Radar in Northern Japan
September 28, 2006 :: AP :: News
The U.S. Army has now activated an X-band radar in northern Japan to track regional ballistic missiles. On Tuesday, September 26, Brigadier General John E. Seward hosted a ceremony at Camp Shariki in the northern Aomori state to activate the X-Band radar. The system was moved earlier this summer from the U.S. military’s Misawa Air Base in Misawa, also in northern Japan. The two nations began working on the radar in 1998 after North Korea fired a Taep’o-dong 1 ballistic missile over northern Japan. The powerful X-band radar can identify objects from thousands of miles away and is designed to differentiate between decoys and real missile warheads. It is part of an ongoing U.S. and Japanese collaboration on missile defense that includes the joint production of sea-based Standard Missile-3 interceptors capable of destroying incoming missiles and the deployment of land-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors around Japan. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Allies, Japan, North Korea
» Missile details: Tien Chi
» Missile system details for: Forward-Based X-Band Radar-Transportable, Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense
Russia to Dismantle Five Nuclear Submarines by 2010
September 13, 2006 :: RIA-Novosti :: News
Russia will dismantle five nuclear-powered Victor-class (Type 671) submarines from its Pacific Fleet by 2010, reports RIA-Novosti. The vessels are being scrapped under the joint Russian-Japanese Star of Hope Program for Dismantling Decommissioned Nuclear Submarines, which was adopted in 2003 when Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Russia. Deputy Foreign Minister Shintaro Ito told a news conference in Vladivostok yesterday that the dismantling of the first Victor-class submarine will begin at the Zvezda Shipyard, in a suburb of Vladivostok, and will take about 10 months. During the dismantlement process, spent nuclear fuel will be removed from the submarine’s reactors and sent to storage, the hull will be cut into three sections, and the bow and stern sections will be removed and destroyed. The reactor section will be sealed and transferred to storage. Japan has allocated 20 billion yen ($171 million) for the project, according to Ito.
The nuclear-powered Victor-class submarines are believed to have entered service in the Soviet Union around 1967, and were primarily designed to protect Soviet surface fleets and to attack U.S. ballistic missile submarines. Most were armed with torpedoes as well as SS-N-15 or SS-N-21 cruise missiles. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Cruise Missiles, Japan, Russia, Sea-Based Systems
Prime Minister: Japan Should Consider Nuclear Weapons
September 7, 2006 :: Japan Times :: News
Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone said Tuesday that Japan should consider developing nuclear weapons. “There are countries with nuclear weapons in Japan’s vicinity,” Nakasone said. “We are currently dependent on U.S. nuclear weapons [as a deterrent], but it is not necessarily known whether the U.S. attitude will continue.” He conceded, however, that the nuclear option should come only after Japan makes efforts to reinforce the global nonproliferation regime: “The first priority is to keep being a nuclear-free state, and the second is to reinforce the system under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.” Nakasone was prime minister from 1982 to 1987, and retired from the Diet in 2003. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Japan, Nuclear Weapons
Japan Considers Sharp Rise in Missile Defense Spending
August 30, 2006 :: AFP :: News
Japan’s Defense Agency yesterday requested a more than 50 percent increase in its missile defense budget, reports the AFP. The article quotes an official in the Liberal Democratic Party, who stated that the agency has requested 219 billion yen ($1.87 billion) for missiles defenses, up 56.5 percent from the current year. The increased budget is mainly to pay for the early deployment of more Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) interceptor missiles, but also includes costs for Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptors for Aegis-equipped U.S. warships as well as advanced radars and joint research and development with the U.S. on missile interceptors. Japan is moving forward with efforts to build a joint missile defense system with the U.S. following North Korea’s July 5 test launch of seven missiles into the Sea of Japan, including a long-range Taep’o-dong-2. The LDP official notes that the Defense Agency’s proposed total budget for fiscal year 2007 is up 1.5 percent from the current term to 4.86 trillion yen ($4.2 billion). (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Allies, Budget, Japan
» Missile system details for: Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense
Japan Launches Sixth Aegis Warship
August 30, 2006 :: AFP :: News
Japan today launched its sixth Aegis destroyer, the Ashigara, which will be fitted with anti-missile capabilities next year. The AFP reports that the Ashigara, the heaviest of Japan’s Aegis destroyers, was put to sea from the southwestern port city of Nagasaki amid fears over a possible North Korean missile attack. The Japanese warship will be equipped with U.S.-designed Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptors throughout next year, according to a spokesman for the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces. The Ashigara joins the U.S.S. Shiloh guided-missile cruiser, the first U.S. warship to be deployed in Japan with the capability to shoot down short- and medium-range missiles, which arrived yesterday at the U.S. naval base of Yokosuka south of Tokyo. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Allies, Deployment, Japan
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD, Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense
