Japan shoots down 'ballistic' missile in interceptor test+

WHITE SANDS, New Mexico, Sept. 17 Kyodo - Japan's Air Self-Defense Force successfully shot down a mock ballistic missile
Wednesday in Japan's first test of a U.S.-developed land-to-air missile interception system since the country started deploying it late last year, ASDF officials said.
The ASDF conducted the test at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico in
the United States.
The PAC-3 missile test was part of Japan's two-layer missile shield using the
sea-based Standard Missile-3 interceptor in space and the land-based PAC-3
missile in Earth's atmosphere.
The PAC-3 missile is designed to shoot a ballistic missile that has escaped the
SM-3 interceptor in space.
In the test Wednesday, the ASDF tracked a mock ballistic missile launched by
the U.S. military about 120 kilometers away by radar and a PAC-3 missile fired
from the interception system hit the target, the officers said.
The purpose of the missile test is to check the capabilities of the PAC-3
missile itself, as well as other aspects of the whole PAC-3 system such as
radars, the missile-launcher and the controller, the officers said earlier.
The ASDF is also trying to collect data on how far the debris of the PAC-3
missiles and the target could scatter after a mid-air explosion. The Japanese
Defense Ministry envisages using PAC-3 interceptors over towns, the officers
said.
The ASDF brought most of the equipment it used in the 1.54 billion yen test
from Japan to the U.S. desert site including missiles, radar and the launcher.
The ASDF has already deployed PAC-3 missiles at five ASDF bases including those
near Tokyo and plans to station them at six more bases nationwide.
Japan successfully tested the SM-3 interceptor system involving a high-tech
Aegis destroyer in December near Hawaii.