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Japan To Bring Forward Missile Defense Shield To 2006: Report
Tokyo (AFP) Jul 23, 2005 Japan wants to put a missile shield it is developing with the United States in place in early 2006, one year earlier than planned, due to threats from North Korea and China, a report said Saturday. The move reflects the government's decision that a missile defense system is needed as soon as possible because of the growing threat posed by North Korean and Chinese ballistic missiles, the Yomiuri Shimbun said. The launch of the system would coincide with the timing of the revised Self-Defense Law, the mass-circulation daily said, citing government sources. Japan's parliament enacted the law Friday to let the defense chief order the interception of a missile without prior cabinet permission in a crisis. It is yet to be officially announced when the revised law would come into force but the defense agency wants to put it into effect in March 2006, the Yomiuri said. North Korea provoked an international outcry in 1998 by test-firing a Taepodong-1 missile over Japan. The communist state is also believed to have deployed around 200 Rodong missiles with a range of about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles), meaning Japan could be hit by them, the Yomiuri said. China possesses Dong Feng 21 intermediate ballistic missiles which are capable of carrying nuclear payloads. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Missile Defense Program Moves Forward
Washington DC (AFPS) Jan 12, 2006The Missile Defense Agency continues to move forward in its efforts to protect the nation against a ballistic missile attack. The eighth ground-based interceptor missile was lowered into its underground silo at Fort Greely, Alaska, Dec. 18, 2005. |
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