Tokyo — Amid heightened concerns about North Korean missiles in the region, the United States and Japan will begin deploying advanced, American-made surface-to-air missile defense systems on Japanese soil next month, officials from both countries announced Thursday.
The Pentagon will start relocation in August of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 system - the ballistic missile interceptors known as PAC-3 - along with 600 specially-trained troops from Fort Bliss, Texas, to a U.S. base in southern Japan.
Japanese officials also said they would deploy the same PAC-3 system on their own bases for the first time by March. A Defense Ministry official said the rollout would begin at Iruma Base just west of Tokyo, spreading to three other nearby bases by 2007.
It marks the latest step by Japan and the United States in their plan to co-develop a broad land, sea and air-based defense network to contain the military might of North Korea.
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taylorc29 (anonymous) says…
There going to blow the whole world up.... then we'll all be in big trouble
OldEnuf2BYurDad (anonymous) says…
Maybe you guys are getting a little "ahead" of yourselves. This is N. Korea we are talking about. Being in an arms race with a nation that cannot even feed it's citizens is like getting into a fist-fight with a toddler. An arms race is when two nations develop the capability to destroy the entire planet several times over. N. Korea can't even get their ICBM to fly straight, let alone deliver a nuke.
75x55 (anonymous) says…
"There going to blow the whole world up."
Huh? Exactly how does that happen, when these will effectively neutralize most missile threats? This isn't "Dr. Strangelove" or "Failsafe".