By KUNA
Tokyo : Japan on Wednesday deployed its third ground-to-air Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile interceptors in the Tokyo area to strengthen defenses in the nation’s political and economic nerve centers against possible ballistic missile attacks.
The two state-of-the-art launchers were installed at Air Self-Defense Force base in Yokosuka, southwest of Tokyo, near a major American naval base which hosts the US Seventh Fleet.
The installation of PAC-3 surface-to-air interceptors comes after the deployments in two prefectures neighboring Tokyo last March and November.
The PAC-3 missiles are believed to be capable of intercepting North Korea’s Rodong missiles, which have a range of 1,300 kilometers and can reach the Japanese archipelago.
In July 2006, North Korea test-launched seven ballistic missiles, prompting the UN Security Council to adopt resolutions imposing diplomatic and economic sanctions against the country.
Japan’s missile defense system has two-phases, in which an incoming ballistic missile is first countered by Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptors from Aegis ships at sea when the missile is still outside the atmosphere. If SM-3s miss the target, PAC-3s from the ground will intercept it.
The PAC-3 system is designed to shoot down up to 16 ballistic missiles at altitudes of at least 10 kilometers within a radius of several dozen kilometers.
The Defense Ministry plans to deploy 30 mobile PAC-3 launchers at 11 military bases across the country and to equip four SM-3-equipped Aegis ships by March 2011, in a bid to build an anti-missile shield.