Japan is going to get ready in case the North Korean nuclear threat can't be defused. Japan's decision will worry China, but that's just too damned bad. With a nuclear-armed wacko in their neighborhood, the Japanese are well-advised to take action. Our own program is proceeding as well, but quietly compared to the yackety-yack on other issues.
The Defense Agency plans to begin deploying a ballistic missile shield in 2006 and is seeking 134.1 billion yen in its fiscal 2004 budget request for the initial phase of spending, agency officials said Friday. The total cost of the system, aimed at countering a North Korean missile attack, is estimated to reach 500 billion yen by 2011.Posted by Alan at August 30, 2003 03:08 PMThe agency's overall budget request for the fiscal year beginning April 1 amounts to 4.96 trillion yen, up 0.7 percent from the initial budget for fiscal 2003.
The introduction of the missile defense shield "would have a significant bearing on Japan's defense policy because it would give the nation defensive capabilities against ballistic missile attacks while providing a deterrent against such attacks," Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba said Friday.
Japan has been leaning toward a missile defense due to the threat of a ballistic missile attack by North Korea and due to Pyongyang's nuclear weapons threat.
The agency plan calls for a two-tier defense, combining a sea-based missile shield to counter short-to-medium range ballistic missiles and a ground-based system to shoot down missiles that got past the first shield.
via The Japan Times