Japanese defense officials Friday requested $1.2 billion to provide Patriot missile defense protection for Tokyo, Asahi Shimbun reported today (see GSN, Aug. 22).

The Japanese Defense Agency also requested $463.4 million to fit the destroyer Kongo with an Aegis Standard Missile 3 system.  Tokyo wants to equip four Aegis destroyers with the Standard Missile over a four-year period (Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 2).

The United States, meanwhile, is considering bringing Japan under its ballistic missile defense umbrella, scheduled to begin operations in 2004.

Washington might station a warship off the coast of Japan to provide missile defense coverage until Tokyo can develop its own technologies, according to a Japanese news report (Gary Schaefer, Associated Press, Sept. 2).

Officials in Tokyo are debating a move that would allow a Japanese prime minister to issue a defense mobilization order, which would be needed to authorize defense forces to engage incoming ballistic missiles.  Under the existing Self-Defense Forces Law, the prime minister must obtain approval from the Security Council of Japan and the cabinet before issuing the order (Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 25).

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