Japan must consider having early warning satellite: defense chief

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TOKYO, April 9 Kyodo -
Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said Thursday that Japan needs to consider
deploying an early warning satellite in space to detect the launch of a
ballistic missile or other objects that may be aimed at the country.
The remark came as some lawmakers in the ruling coalition called for the
deployment following North Korea's launch on Sunday of a rocket that passed
over Japan.
''An early warning satellite is something we, too, must think about,'' Hamada
said at a meeting of the House of Representatives Security Committee.
''It's true we'll have more lead time and material to base our judgment on if
we can react as soon as a launch takes place,'' he said. ''We're aware of the
importance (of a satellite).''
Hamada said the issue must be considered while discussing revisions to Japan's
National Defense Program Guidelines and Mid-Term Defense Program, which are to
be amended at the end of this year.
Meanwhile, the top officer of the Self-Defense Forces apologized to the nation
the same day for confusing the public one day before the North Korean launch by
providing erroneous launch information that was not based on data from a U.S.
early warning satellite.
''I'm very sorry for causing a lot of trouble to the Japanese people due to
mistakes in information conveyance on Saturday,'' SDF Chief of Staff Gen.
Ryoichi Oriki said at a news conference.
On the possibility of developing an early warning satellite, Chief Cabinet
Secretary Takeo Kawamura said the issue has also been the subject of debate
among members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition
partner, the New Komeito party.
''I've heard there's also discussion within the ruling parties,'' the
government's top spokesman said at a news conference after Hamada's made his
remarks. ''The issue will be considered in various ways based on it.''
Japan has no early warning satellite, which, equipped with infrared telescopes,
often picks up the first sign of a ballistic missile launch. It relies on the
United States for such satellite information.
The Defense Ministry in January compiled its basic guidelines on space
development detailing the need to do research on infrared sensors for use in an
early warning satellite.
The secretariat of Prime Minister Taro Aso's space development strategy
headquarters has since proposed writing that need into the government's basic
guidelines on space development, which will be finalized next month.
When North Korea launched a rocket that passed over northeastern Japan on
Sunday, Tokyo first learned about the launch from information fed by a Defense
Support Program satellite of the U.S. military.
Based on the information, Japan's Aegis destroyers deployed around Japan and
ground-based radars across the country tracked the rocket and its debris,
according to the ministry.
One day before the launching, the SDF conveyed a false launch detection by a
ground-based radar to the government via the SDF Central Command Post as
sure-fire information provided by a DSP satellite. Though retracted quickly,
the information got to spread around the world.
The SDF's Oriki, who was at the command post at the time of the incident, said
he gave a green light the following day to sending out launch information only
after he made sure that multiple sensors had picked up launch signs.
''Although we're still analyzing the details, we'll work on improving this (the
country's antiballistic missile operations) by going about examining it
again,'' he said.
North Korea launched what it says was a three-stage rocket from its
northeastern coast shortly before noon on Sunday. The rocket's first stage
apparently fell into the Sea of Japan off northeastern Japan and the remaining
parts, including its payload, are believed to have landed in the Pacific east
of Japan.
Although Pyongyang has claimed the rocket launch was to put a communications
satellite into orbit, many countries, including Japan and the United States,
believe it was a cover to test North Korea's long-range ballistic missile
technology.
==Kyodo