Japan Schedules Missile Interceptor Test

The first Japanese test firing of a U.S.-made Standard Missile 3 interceptor is scheduled for the end of this year, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, June 11).

The launch is set to occur around December at an unidentified location in the Pacific Ocean from the Aegis destroyer Kongo, now being refitted to carry the missile, according to a Defense Ministry official.

Japan has become the chief international partner in U.S. missile defense efforts, in 2006 joining a missile launch test conducted by the U.S. Navy.

However, the official denied that Japan planned to conduct a joint missile defense exercise with the United States.  The Yomiuri newspaper had reported that a drill was planned for the Sea of Japan and would involve Aegis destroyers carrying SM-3 interceptors.  The intent would be to practice joint operations in the face of a missile strike by North Korea, according to Yomiuri (Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, July 4).

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