Washington has recently notified Tokyo that it will deploy
Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) missiles in Okinawa, southern
Japan by the end of the year and Japan plans to accept it, the
Yomiuri Shimbun reported Monday, quoting government sources.
The surface-to-air PAC-3 missiles are to be deployed at the
Kadena Air Base or the US Air Force's Kadena Ammunition Storage
Area in the Okinawa prefecture, to defend US forces in Japan from
possible threat of missiles from North Korea, the report said.
The United States notified Japan about the deployment plan on
June 17 at a meeting in Hawaii about missile defense. Japan plans
to accept the deployment arrangement in principle, according to the
sources.
The missiles, with an effective protective range of tens of
kilometers, will complement the Standard Missile 3 missiles
installed on Aegis-equipped ships.
Some additional 500 to 600 US troops are expected to be deployed
along with three or four PAC-3 missile batteries, the paper
said.
Japan's Self-Defense Forces will also deploy PAC-3 missiles at
Iruma Air Base in Saitama prefecture by the end of fiscal 2006, and
at Kasuga Base in Fukuoka, Gifu Base and Hamamatsu Base in Shizuoka
prefecture by fiscal 2010.
(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2006)
