Posted on 11/26/2007 7:16:44 PM PST by blam
Japan missile drill to counter China, N Korea
By Julian Ryall in Tokyo
Last Updated: 2:54am GMT 27/11/2007
Japan is to deploy Patriot missile batteries on the streets of Tokyo in a security drill designed to prove that it is capable of defending itself from any threat posed by North Korea or China.
Convoys carrying troops and Patriot advanced capacity-3 missiles and launcher units will leave the Air Self-Defence Force's base at Iruma, north of Tokyo, in the next few weeks and disperse to 10 locations throughout the Japanese capital.
Yasuo Fukuda remains concerned at China's escalating military spending
They will be used to determine the speed at which the systems can be brought to operational readiness and any glitches that may hamper their effectiveness.
Potential problems include maintaining communications between the individual launch units and military headquarters. "We believe it is important to improve and further develop our ballistic missile defence system's capabilities and we intend to conduct this drill in the future," said Kei Nakano, a defence ministry spokesman.
The ministry has not announced the "scenario" for the drill, although Japan's concerns about its neighbours' military capabilities are well documented.
North Korea already has an arsenal of ballistic missiles that are capable of hitting targets in mainland Japan and is developing weapons that will be able to strike United States military facilities in Okinawa and further afield.
Despite international inspectors being granted access to Pyongyang's nuclear programme, there are many in Japan who are not convinced that the regime is revealing its full hand.
Military analysts believe North Korea is only a matter of years away from developing a weapon that is capable of delivering a nuclear payload.
Tokyo also has territorial issues with Russia, although there is little likelihood of any military escalation in that relationship. The same cannot be said for the third nuclear power on Japan's doorstep, China.
Though there have been efforts to court Beijing in the two months since Yasuo Fukuda took over as prime minister, Tokyo remains concerned at China's escalating military spending and its efforts to develop a large modern naval fleet.
Several other Japanese cities are considered potential targets and similar PAC-3 exercises are reportedly planned for Nagoya and Osaka.
Cool!!
If I see any, I’ll try to get some pics.
Though there have been efforts to court Beijing in the two months since Yasuo Fukuda took over as prime minister, Tokyo remains concerned at China’s escalating military spending and its efforts to develop a large modern naval fleet.
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It is too bad our own Congress is not equally concerned with this and other IMPORTANT issues, rather than their power-mongering sick socialist politics. Or should the question be “Does anyone in Congress care about it?”.
Well said.
Don't know what that really is, but it sounds really, really good...!
LOL! Yep! I noticed that too!
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