Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
August 21, 2008
IWG Report 2007
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Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense
| Country: | Japan |
|---|---|
| Associated Country: | United States |
Details
Japan’s role in ballistic missile defense began in 1999, when North Korea tested its long-range Taep’o-dong 1 ballistic missile, which flew over Japan and landed into the Pacific Ocean. Since then, Japan has authorized its Defense Force to shoot down enemy warheads, and has worked closely with the U.S. in the development of BMD systems.(1)
In December 2004, the U.S. and Japan signed an agreement allowing for extensive ballistic missile defense cooperation between the two countries, including the mutual transfer of related technologies.(2) The following year, the two nations published “U.S.-Japan Alliance: Transformation and Realignment for the Future,” which predicted considerable future cooperation.(3)
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.(4) Shortly thereafter, U.S. State Department released an official statement that Japan had become the U.S.’s most significant missile defense partner.(5)
Japan’s current BMD role includes the Aegis sea-based missile defense system; land-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor missiles; and the new mobile land-based X-band radar.
Aegis Sea-Based Missile Defense
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. Japan plans to deploy 36 SM-3 missiles bewteen 2007 and 2010 on four Aegis-equipped destroyers: Kongo, Chokai, Myoko, and Kirishima. Japan may also install the missile defense system on two new destroyers that are being built in Nagasaki.(6)
The U.S. and Japan recently test-launched a SM-3 equipped with an experimental “clamshell” nosecone, designed by Japan to more quickly release the interceptor’s kill vehicle. In the standard configuration for previous tests, the SM-3 missile must maneuver to eject the barrel-shaped kill vehicle, a process known as “pitch and ditch.” The newer nosecone eliminates the need for such maneuvers, which in turn means the kinetic kill vehicle can collide with and destroy its target more quickly.(7)
Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Interceptors
Japan plans to deploy 124 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor missiles by 2010. The first 32 interceptors will be purchased from the United States, designed to be deployed at the military air bases perhaps as early as next year, and the remainder domestically produced in Japan.(8) Japan has 24 air defense artilleries nationwide, and requires at least 30 PAC-3s to provide a basic defense of its airspace. However, to defend against limited, short-range attacks, such as those from North Korea, it requires more than 30 interceptors.(9)
The initial Japanese deployment plan includes Tokyo and six other major urban centers, as well as four military bases in Saitama, Shizuoka, Gifu and Fukuoka prefectures. Sources indicate that each base will each receive four PAC-3 launch systems between 2006 and 2010. There will also be a total of two backup units overall. Of these 18 systems, 15 of them will have eight missiles each.(10)
Mobile X-Band Radar
Japan is also deployed a new mobile X-band radar, designed to detect and track ballistic missiles. The X-band radar operates at a frequency of 10 gigahertz, and provides surveillance, acquisition, tracking, and kill assessment for missile defense systems. Built by the U.S., the radar has a longer detection range, enabling it to respond to ballistic missiles launched from deep within a continent, and is also capable of differentiating missile shapes.(11)
The X-band radar will be deployed in the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force’s Shariki base in Tsugaru, located in the northeastern Aomori prefecture. The radar will face the Sea of Japan, and will be operated by approximately 10 U.S. military personnel and 50 civilians. According to the report, the X-band radar is expected to be fully installed by December 2006.(12)
Footnotes
- CNN, 22 July 2005.
- Japan Times, 16 December 2004.
- Kyodo, 1 November 2005.
- Associated Press, 15 December 2005.
- U.S. Department of State, Press Release, 10 March 2006.
- Kyodo, 10 January 2006.
- U.S. Missile Defense Agency, 8 March 2006.
- Kyodo, 14 November 2005.
- Kyodo, 10 October 2005.
- Kyodo, 14 November 2005.
- Asahi Shimbun, 17 October 2005.
- Kyodo, 10 March 2006.
First Aegis Cruiser Arrives in Japan
The U.S.S. Shiloh, the first missile defense-capable ship to be deployed in Japan, arrived in the port of Yokosuka today. The Shiloh is armed with the Aegis combat system, including Standard Missile-3 interceptors capable of shooting down medium-range ballistic missiles in mid-flight. Its deployment is a symbolic step in a joint U.S.-Japanese missile defense alliance to shield Japan and the region from missile attack. A second line of defense is to commence in September, when the U.S. military will begin installing Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) interceptors at its Kadena Air Base on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa. North Korea’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper immediately condemned the U.S.-Japanese deployment, stating that “the scheme of the U.S. war-thirsty quarters to deploy dense MD [missile defense] networks in the U.S. mainland, Japan, and the Pacific reveals their wild ambition to rule the world by strength.”
» More stories on: Allies, Deployment, Japan
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD, Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense
U.S. Considers Second Mobile X-Band Radar for Japan
Kyodo reports that the U.S. is considering the deployment of a second mobile X-band radar in the Western Pacific in response to North Korea’s firing of ballistic missile last month. The article quotes an unnamed Pentagon official who said that four candidate sites for the second radar are Kyushu and Okinawa in southern Japan, as well as South Korea and Guam. The official added that the second radar would be located in the southern part of the region in an attempt to expand the scope of tracking North Korean missiles in combination with the first mobile X-band radar system already deployed in Aomori in northern Japan. The Aomori radar was deployed as part of a U.S.-Japan agreement in May on realigning U.S. forces in Japan.
» More stories on: Allies, Japan, Detection and Tracking
» Missile system details for: Forward-Based X-Band Radar-Transportable, Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense
Katsumata: U.S. and Japan Need Plan to Defend Against North Korea
The U.S. and Japan have surprisingly little coordination in their current ballistic missile defense deployments, reports the UPI. The article quotes Hidemichi Katsumata, who discussed this lack of coordination in the Tokyo newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun on July 14, 10 days after North Korea test launched a salvo of long- and short-range ballistic missiles. “It may come as a surprise to many, but the [Japanese] government does not have plans in place to enable U.S. armed forces and the SDF [Japanese Self Defense Forces] to work jointly to protect the country from a ballistic missile attack,” Katsumata wrote. He recommended that “the [Japanese] government should therefore map out as soon as possible a joint Japan-U.S. strategy to prepare for a possible missile attack. Determining what roles U.S. forces and SDF troops can play, and what they are allowed to do, the government could help to deter North Korea.”
» More stories on: Japan, North Korea
» Missile system details for: Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense
Japan Scheduled to Deploy Six Aegis Ships by 2008
Japan plans to deploy a total of six Aegis-quipped warships by the spring of 2008, reports Kyodo. Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force has already deployed four Aegis destroyers, the Kongou and Choukai, both based in Sasebo, the Myoukou in Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture, and the Kirishima in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. A fifth warship, the Atago, is to be commissioned next spring and deployed at Maizuru. A sixth Aegis destroyer is under construction in Nagasaki, and will be deployed at Sasebo after its completion in the spring of 2008. Five of the six Aegis warships will be deployed along the Sea of Japan to provide a defensive shield against the threat of ballistic missile attack from North Korea. All of Japan’s Aegis warships are currently equipped with SM-2 interceptors, although the MSDF is planning to upgrade them to SM-3 interceptors, capable of hitting ballistic missiles at a far higher altitude.
» More stories on: Allies, Japan, Sea-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD, Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense
U.S. to Deploy PAC-3 in Okinawa, Beginning in August
The U.S. will deploy Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) surface-to-air missiles in Okinawa next month, U.S. and Japanese officials announced yesterday. The Pentagon will relocate PAC-3 interceptors along with 600 troops from the Air Defense Artillery Battalion at Fort Bliss, Texas, to the U.S. Kadena Air Base and the nearby Munitions Storage Area on Okinawa. Japanese officials said the system is scheduled to be at least partially operational by year’s end. In addition, Japan’s Self Defense Force will begin deploying PAC-3 systems on military bases by next March. The rollout will begin at Iruma Base just west of Tokyo, spreading to three other bases by the end of 2007. Japan intends to keep deploying the system throughout the country through 2010.
» More stories on: Deployment, Japan
» Missile system details for: Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense, Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)
Japan Considers Preemptive Strike Against North Korea
Japan is considering whether a preemptive strike on North Korea’s missile bases would violate its constitution, reports the AP. Japan’s constitution currently prohibits the use of military force in settling international disputes, and forbids Japan from sustaining a military for use in warfare. Tokyo, however, has interpreted this to mean that it can protect itself with armed troops, allowing for the existence of the Self-Defense Forces including missile defense assets. Government officials are now discussing a possible legal framework that would allow Tokyo to launch a preemptive strike against North Korea’s ballistic missile arsenal. “If we accept that there is no other option to prevent an attack … there is the view that attacking the launch base of the guided missiles is within the constitutional right of self-defense. We need to deepen discussion,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said.
The debate, like similar calls in the United States to preemptively destroy North Korean missiles, illustrates how vulnerability to ballistic missiles can constrain and narrow a nation’s freedom of action in responding to threats.
» More stories on: Japan, North Korea
» Missile system details for: Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense
Japan Wants Joint Missile Defense System “As Soon as Possible”
Japan wants to deploy a joint missile defense with the U.S. as quickly as possible, said Japan’s Defense Minister Fukushiro Nukaga today. “Along with the establishment of a surveillance radar network, we want to work with the United States to build an interception mechanism as soon as possible,” Nukaga said, speaking before the Japanese parliament. Japan began its missile defense cooperation with the U.S. after North Korea’s 1998 test launch of a Taep’o-dong 1 ballistic missile, which flew over Japan. In June 2006, Japan and the U.S. signed an agreement to expand missile defense cooperation, committing to the joint production of interceptor missiles, and allowing the transfer of missile defense technology from Japan to the U.S.
» More stories on: Allies, Japan, North Korea
» Missile system details for: Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense
Japan to Allow U.S. Deployment of Patriots
Japan and the U.S. have agreed to deploy Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) surface-to-air interceptors at U.S. bases in Japan, reports the AP. The agreement was made earlier this month amid concerns that North Korea would test-launch a Taep’o-dong 2 ballistic missile. According to Japanese officials, the sites and timing for the deployment have not yet been decided. The Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported today, however, that the U.S. will deploy three or four PAC-3 batteries as well as 500-600 troops on the southern island of Okinawa by the end of the year.
» More stories on: Allies, Japan
» Missile details: Tien Ma 1
» Missile system details for: Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense, Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)
Japan and U.S. Expand Missile Defense Pact
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.
» More stories on: Japan, Policy
» Missile details: Tien Chi, Tien Ma 1
» Missile system details for: Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense
Aegis SM-3 Interceptor Destroys Separating Target, Japanese Destroyer Performs Surveillance
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.
» More stories on: Allies, Japan, Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD, Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense
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