Japan and U.S. Expand Missile Defense Pact
June 23, 2006 :: Washington Post :: News
The U.S. and Japan have signed an agreement to expand cooperation on a joint ballistic missile defense system. The additional pact comes amid concerns that North Korea might test-launch a Taep’o-dong 2 long-range missile. Signed by U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso, the agreement commits the two countries to the joint production of interceptor missiles, and allows for the transfer of ballistic missile defense technology from Japan to the U.S.. The technology transfer issue is a sensitive one in Japan, which has long adhered to a self-imposed ban on arms exports.
The agreement is said to have actually been reached by both countries last year, and today’s signing is seen by many as a warning to North Korea, whose 1998 test-launch of a Taep’o-dong 1 medium-range missile over northern Japan served as Tokyo’s primary impetus for pursuing missile defense in the first place. Political and military analysts also say that in the long term, the primary U.S. and Japanese motivation for the expansion of a joint ballistic missile defense shield is fear over the potential threat posed by China. (Article, Link)
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Aegis SM-3 Interceptor Destroys Separating Target, Japanese Destroyer Performs Surveillance
June 22, 2006 :: The Missile Defense Agency :: News
MDA today conducted a successful test of the Aegis ballistic missile defense system, destroying a separating target with a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor. The warhead was launched atop a three-stage medium-range ballistic missile, which was detected, tracked, and targeted by Aegis AN/SPY-1 phased-array radars. A SM-3 interceptor was launched from the Aegis cruiser U.S.S. Shiloh off the coast of Hawaii, and scored a direct hit more than 160 km above the Pacific Ocean. The test marked the seventh time (out of eight attempts) that MDA has successfully shot down a target missile with a ship-launched interceptor, and the second time that Aegis has successfully intercepted a separating warhead. Also noteworthy is the fact that the Japanese destroyer Kirishima performed surveillance and tracking roles, marking the first time any U.S. ally has taken part in a U.S. missile defense intercept test. (Article, Link)
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North Korea Reaffirms: No Longer Bound by Testing Moratorium
June 20, 2006 :: Financial Times :: News
North Korea has again declared that it will no longer adhere to a 2002 agreement with Japan in which it promised not to test long-range ballistics missiles. The 2002 Pyongyang Declaration was signed by Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s leader, and Junichiro Koizumi, Japan’s prime minister. On Tuesday night, however, Ri Pyong Dok, a North Korean foreign ministry official, told Japanese journalists in Pyongyang that a long-range missile test launch “is not bound by any statement such as the Pyongyang Declaration.” The moves comes as North Korea prepares to launch a Taep’o-dong 2 long-range missile that could reach Japan and parts of the continental U.S. (Article, Link)
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McCain on North Korea, Suggests Role for China
June 20, 2006 :: Financial Times :: News
Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Ranking Member of the Armed Services Committee, recently discussed the threat from North Korea in an interview with the Financial Times. In particular, McCain warned of possible regional destabilization between Japan and China if North Korea goes ahead with its test launch of its Taep’o-dong 2 long-range ballistic missile.
We all know what happens if they [North Korea] continue to make this kind of progress and that is the Japanese will acquire missile defence systems and eventually will have to acquire offensive weapons which we know they could readily do given the technology capability they have. The key to all this as we all know is China. It seems to me it is not in China’s interest to see this kind of destabilisation. They’re doing very well and exacerbation of tensions in the region cannot be in their interest. So why they don’t put more pressure on the dear leader is something I simply do not understand. … Depending on what we find out about what North Korea is doing and what its intentions are, we have to ratchet up the importance of the issue in our relationship [with China].
McCain also reiterated his previous opposition to the 1994 U.S.-North Korea Agreed Framework, in which North Korea was provided with 500,000 tons of heavy fuel oil annually, at no cost, in exchange for suspending its nuclear program. The Framework, supported by the Clinton administration, was and still is viewed by many as blackmail on the part of North Korea, and appeasement on the part of the U.S. According to McCain, the program was “neither verifiable nor enforceable,” and did not do much except “maybe put a billion dollars into the Korean coffers.” (Article, Link)
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U.S. Approves $458 Million Sale of SM-3 Interceptors to Japan
June 7, 2006 :: Department of Defense :: News
The Pentagon has approved the $458 million sale of nine sea-based Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) missile defense interceptors and associated equipment to Japan, according to an announcement yesterday by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. Congress now has 30 days to approve the sale, after which the missiles will be deployed on Japan’s Aegis-equipped cruisers and destroyers. The SM-3 units, along with Japan’s Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles, will provide an initial ballistic missile defense for mainland Japan. The sale illustrates the seriousness with which Japan treats the need for such defenses. (Article, Link)
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U.S., Japan, Keep Watch on Possible North Korea Missile Moves
June 1, 2006 :: AP :: News
The U.S. and Japan have detected signs that North Korea is almost ready to test-launch a Taepo-dong-2 long-range ballistic missile. According to the Japanese Sankei newspaper, the U.S. has dispatched a spy plane and Japan has sent a destroyer with advanced reconnaissance equipment and an attack aircraft loaded with radar-jamming electronics to gather information. The report also quoted a South Korean intelligence official as saying that his agency learned of Pyongyang’s preparations for a missile launch through sources other than satellite photos. Two weeks ago, Japanese media reported that North Korea had moved a “missile-like object” over 30 meters in length to a test site in the North Hamgyong Province. The missile was most likely the Taepo-dong-2, which is 32 meters long and has a range of between 4,300 and 6,000 km. (Article, Link)
» May 19, 2006: Activity Reported at North Korean Taepo-dong Missile Site
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U.S. to Deploy PAC-3 at Okinawa
May 23, 2006 :: News
The United States will deploy Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) interceptor missiles at the Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, reports Asia Pulse. The deployment will boost defenses against a possible missile strike from North Korea or China. Japan also plans to deploy PAC-3 batteries at bases in the Saitama and Shizuoka prefectures near Tokyo, among other locations. (Link)
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BMD as Koizumi’s Heritage for Japan
May 4, 2006 :: UPI :: Analysis
Japan is now America’s “most important global ally in the development of global missile defense” largely due to the efforts of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, writes the UPI’s Martin Sieff. Koizumi is required to step down in September as leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and as prime minister after five years in the top job, but “the ballistic missile defense alliance he has fashioned with the United States will live on after him.” No other U.S. ally can compare to the financial and industrial resources Japan now brings to BMD development. Japan is assisting in the development of the sea-based Aegis ballistic missile defense system; its industries are shortly expected to begin building Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor missiles; and it has expressed its eagerness to explore airborne laser technologies. Sieff predicts that close cooperation between Japan and the U.S. will continue for many years, as the joint development programs offer a “potential bonanza” of access to cutting edge technology for Japan’s major industries. In addition, BMD has repeatedly proven popular with the Japanese public, so much that “post-Koizumi governments that might otherwise be tempted to cut back on them risk being punished in the voting booths if they do so.” (Article, Link)
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Dinerman on U.S.-Japan Defense Alliance and the Shifting Asian Balance of Power
April 11, 2006 :: The Space Review :: Analysis
Taylor Dinerman argues in TheSpaceReview.com that the U.S.-Japanese missile defense alliance is changing the balance of power against North Korea and to a lesser extent against China. Today, were the U.S. were to deploy a substantial number of Patriot-Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) interceptors along with several Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptors, they would be able to shoot down half of North Korea’s 100 or so Nodong-1 and 2 missiles. A few years from now, when Japan deploys its PAC-3s and SM-3s, the missile threat from Pyongyang “will be reduced to insignificance.” Similarly, China’s ability to strike the U.S. homeland is diminishing as the U.S. continues to deploy its missile defenses. As the effectiveness of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense System (GMD) and the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) increases, the cost to China of maintaining its capability will increase as well. Dinerman adds that if the U.S. were to develop and deploy a space-based system similar to Brilliant Pebbles, China would lose “most of its nuclear options against the U.S. homeland and perhaps against Japan as well.” (Article, Link)
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Andrew on Chinese Missile and Defensive Buildup
March 15, 2006 :: Analysis
Martin Andrew of the Jamestown Foundation argues that ballistic missile defense in Asia is reducing China’s strategic deterrence. As China deploys its theater-range missiles, other military powers in the region are investing in BMD systems, such as sea-based Aegis systems and ground-based THAAD systems. These new systems will be able to intercept Chinese missiles over Chinese airspace, thus putting China in what Andrew terms a “strategic quandary.” An excerpt:
BMD systems are being deployed in Northeast Asia because of the build-up in Chinese and North Korean ballistic missiles. Yet if it were to negotiate the removal of its ballistic missiles facing Taiwan it loses its key leverage over Taiwan—with Japan and South Korea still keeping their BMD systems in the face of North Korea’s arsenal. Yet by sustaining—and adding to—missile forces in Fujian, Beijing runs the risk of negating its strategic deterrence. If the Chinese leadership follows its doctrine of active defense and believed its nuclear deterrence was becoming neutralized or under threat, it could conceivably launch strikes against Taiwan and Japanese and U.S. ballistic defense missile forces, certainly leading to retaliatory economic and military action. With the acceleration of Chinese ballistic missile forces opposite Taiwan, this is becoming a matter of concern on both sides of the Asia-Pacific.
(Article, Link)
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