Missile units on way to northeastern Japan ahead of N. Korean launch+

HAMAMATSU, Japan, March 29 Kyodo -
The Air Self-Defense Force began moving Patriot guided-missile units stationed
in central Japan to locations in northeastern Japan on Sunday to shoot down a
rocket North Korea plans to launch if it falls into Japanese territory.

The units, capable of launching Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles, are to
back up the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Aegis guided-missile destroyers,
currently on their way to the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean, ahead of
North Korea's planned launch of what is says is a satellite between April 4 and
8.
Japan, South Korea and the United States believe the launch to be a guise for
test-firing a long-range ballistic missile, which is expected to fly over
northeastern Japan.
Under the plan, the MSDF destroyers are to detect and track the North Korean
rocket by radar, and if necessary, intercept it with their Standard Missile-3
ballistic missile interceptors outside the earth's atmosphere.
If the destroyers fail to intercept it, the ASDF's PAC-3 missiles are expected
to shoot it down immediately before it lands.
The ASDF will deploy a PAC-3 launcher in a Ground Self-Defense Force exercise
area in Akita Prefecture and another one in a GSDF exercise area in Iwate
Prefecture. The launchers from the ASDF's Hamamatsu base in Shizuoka Prefecture
are expected to arrive at the destinations Monday.
According to the ASDF, a single PAC-3 launcher is capable of defending an area
with a 20-kilometer radius. So the two launchers can only defend a limited area
in northeastern Japan, including the cities of Akita and Morioka.
The government says the possibility of the missile falling onto Japan is
extremely low.
But to prepare for contingencies, such as the launch encountering some trouble,
the government, in an unprecedented move, ordered the Self-Defense Forces on
Friday to destroy the rocket if it threatened to drop toward the country's
waters or soil.
The sea-launched SM-3 interceptors and the ground-based PAC-3 missiles together
constitute the core of Japan's ballistic missile shield, which if utilized
would be put to use in a real-life situation for the first time.
The country stepped up efforts to improve its missile defense systems after
North Korea fired a ballistic missile that flew over Japan in August 1998.
The PAC-3 missiles are currently deployed at six locations in Japan -- Chiba,
Kanagawa, Ibaraki, Saitama, Shizuoka and Gifu. Defense Ministry plans to
increase the number to 11 by spring 2010.
==Kyodo