Japan May Begin Early Missile Defense Deployment

Deployment of Japan’s missile defense system could begin a year ahead of schedule, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, July 22).

The desire to speed up deployment to March 2006 arises from concerns about ballistic missile programs in North Korea and China, the Yomiuri Shimbun quoted Japanese officials as saying.

Patriot Advanced Capability 3 surface-to-air missiles were initially expected to be fielded in late fiscal 2006-2007, which ends in March 2007, according to Yomiuri. One of four Aegis destroyers in the Japanese fleet was scheduled to be equipped with Standard Missile 3 missiles by the end of 2007. Four missile defense-equipped Aegis destroyers and three PAC-3 units would be deployed in all by the end of fiscal 2010-2011, according to the plan.

However, because certain components must be purchased from the United States, the timing of the deployment remains uncertain.

“Due to contractual issues, there is a possibility that it could be hard to drastically bring forward PAC-3 or SM-3 that need to be bought from the United States,” Yomiuri quoted a Defense Ministry source as saying (Reuters, July 24).

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