Navy to bring new missile tracking system to Pacific (Navy bump)

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy will deploy in September a guided missile destroyer to the Sea of Japan equipped with newest missile defense tracking technology.

“As part of the President’s directive to accelerate the fielding of a [ballistic missile defense] Initial Defensive Operations capability … the Navy will deploy in the Sea of Japan, beginning this September, and on a virtually continuous basis thereafter, a guided missile destroyer to serve as a Long-Range Surveillance and Tracking platform,” Navy Secretary Gordon England said Monday at the Missile Defense Conference in Washington.

The yet-to-be-identified destroyer will be a Pacific Fleet asset, but Navy officials aren’t talking about where it will be based, or what Navy assets and personnel will be tasked to support it during the deployment.

“Having a destroyer there is no different than having a destroyer anywhere else on deployment. We always provide the support and service needed,” said Navy spokeswoman Lt. Amy Gilliland.

By “virtually continuous presence,” the Navy is saying the destroyer will have a recurring presence in the region, Gilliland said. “We’re not promising a constant presence, but we’re making a commitment,” she said. “It won’t be tethered to one spot in the ocean.”

The effort is one part of the larger Pentagon five-year, $53 billion Missile Defense Agency program aimed at developing a system that could counter ballistic threats against the United States and allies.

By end the end of 2005, the MDA is slated to have up to 10 SM-3 systems ready, and by spring 2006, it should have 15 Navy destroyers equipped with the long-range tracking capability and three Navy cruisers equipped with the engagement capability, said Chris Taylor, spokesman for the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency.

SM-3 is designed to intercept and destroy short- and medium-range ballistic missiles in space, according to the manufacturer, Raytheon.

“We’re turning the capability over to [the Navy and Strategic Command], and they decide where it goes,” Taylor said.

A Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told Stripes on Tuesday that the ministry is aware of the speech made by the Navy’s secretary but said, “We are not in the position to comment on the U.S. Forces operations.”

US missile system to shield Japan

WASHINGTON - The United States Defence Department plans to deploy surface-to-air missiles in waters off Japan by the end of next year.

The move aims to deter Pyongyang from developing ballistic missiles targeting the country.

The interceptor missile system, known as the standard missile 3 (SM3) system, will likely be mounted on an Aegis-equipped destroyer scheduled to be dispatched to the Sea of Japan by the end of September, the Asahi Shimbun reported yesterday, citing a Pentagon source. That plan was announced last week by Secretary of the Navy Gordon England. The latest move comes as six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear programme remain at a stalemate.

US defence officials have expressed concern that Pyongyang may go ahead with a ballistic missile development programme as the talks stall.

According to the Pentagon source, the Defence Department plans to equip 10 Aegis missile-launch detecting destroyers with the SM3s by the end of next year.

Those ships will likely be dispatched to regions that are considered the most likely targets of a ballistic missile attack.

The source said the area around Japan, particularly the Sea of Japan coast, is a likely destination for the SM3-equipped destroyers.

Japan, meanwhile, has informed Washington of its own plan to deploy Patriot missile systems on the ground and SM3 systems on its Aegis destroyer, the source said.

He also said that South Korea plans to put Patriot systems in place.

http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/story/0,4386,243005,00.html?

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