ID :
52737
Sun, 03/29/2009 - 06:45
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/52737
The shortlink copeid
Japan sends Aegis destroyers to Sea of Japan ahead of N. Korean launch+
SASEBO, Japan, March 28 Kyodo - Japanese Aegis guided-missile destroyers set sail for the Sea of Japan Saturday to prepare to intercept a rocket North Korea plans to launch if it falls into
Japanese territory, Defense Ministry officials said.
The dispatch comes a day after the Japanese government, in an unprecedented
move, ordered the Self-Defense Forces to destroy the rocket if it threatened to
drop toward the country's waters or soil.
North Korea says it will launch a satellite between April 4 and 8. Tokyo is
concerned that should the launch encounter trouble, the rocket, or part of it,
might fall on northeastern Japan, over which the rocket is expected to fly if
the launch goes as planned.
On Saturday morning, the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Kongou and Choukai, both
modified to launch Standard Missile-3 ballistic missile interceptors, left
their base in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture.
Once the rocket is launched, they are expected to detect and track it by radar
and, if necessary, intercept it outside the earth's atmosphere.
Another MSDF Aegis destroyer left its base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture,
for the Pacific Ocean the same day. Not yet modified to fire the SM-3, the
Kirishima will primarily be tracking the rocket's trajectory, the officials
said.
Japan has also begun moving Patriot guided-missile units to locations in and
around Tokyo, with two additional units expected to be deployed to northeastern
Japan within days.
The Air Self-Defense Force units, capable of launching Patriot Advanced
Capability-3 missiles, are supposed to provide protection against an incoming
rocket or its debris near the ground.
The sea-launched SM-3 interceptors and the ground-based PAC-3 missiles together
constitute the core of Japan's ballistic missile shield, which would be put to
use in a real-life situation for the first time.
Despite North Korea's claim about a satellite launch, Japan and its allies
suspect Pyongyang may be planning a disguised ballistic missile test because
the technology used to launch a rocket and a ballistic missile is the same.
==Kyodo
2009-03-28 22:47:44
Japanese territory, Defense Ministry officials said.
The dispatch comes a day after the Japanese government, in an unprecedented
move, ordered the Self-Defense Forces to destroy the rocket if it threatened to
drop toward the country's waters or soil.
North Korea says it will launch a satellite between April 4 and 8. Tokyo is
concerned that should the launch encounter trouble, the rocket, or part of it,
might fall on northeastern Japan, over which the rocket is expected to fly if
the launch goes as planned.
On Saturday morning, the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Kongou and Choukai, both
modified to launch Standard Missile-3 ballistic missile interceptors, left
their base in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture.
Once the rocket is launched, they are expected to detect and track it by radar
and, if necessary, intercept it outside the earth's atmosphere.
Another MSDF Aegis destroyer left its base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture,
for the Pacific Ocean the same day. Not yet modified to fire the SM-3, the
Kirishima will primarily be tracking the rocket's trajectory, the officials
said.
Japan has also begun moving Patriot guided-missile units to locations in and
around Tokyo, with two additional units expected to be deployed to northeastern
Japan within days.
The Air Self-Defense Force units, capable of launching Patriot Advanced
Capability-3 missiles, are supposed to provide protection against an incoming
rocket or its debris near the ground.
The sea-launched SM-3 interceptors and the ground-based PAC-3 missiles together
constitute the core of Japan's ballistic missile shield, which would be put to
use in a real-life situation for the first time.
Despite North Korea's claim about a satellite launch, Japan and its allies
suspect Pyongyang may be planning a disguised ballistic missile test because
the technology used to launch a rocket and a ballistic missile is the same.
==Kyodo
2009-03-28 22:47:44
