The United States and Japan will begin deploying American-made anti-missile systems on Japanese soil next month amid growing concern about North Korean arms.
Japan's defense chief said Thursday that Tokyo wants to speed up efforts to establish a missile defense shield with the United States to guard against the threat posed by North Korea.
Missile defense proponents view North Korea's firing of seven missiles as the first real test of the new U.S. ground-based missile defense, even though the failure of the long-range Taepodong-2 seconds after launch prevented the Pentagon from responding with a U.S.-based interceptor.
" In justifying the accelerated deployment of a nationwide anti-missile system, the Bush administration has cited a growing missile threat, particularly from North Korea. But the extent of North Korea's missile program is open to debate."
North Korea has customised a dozen scrapped Russian submarines to launch ballistic weapons of mass destruction, giving them the capability to strike the US mainland with a nuclear warhead.
North Korea has "significantly" improved the capability of its offensive ballistic missiles, including those that can reach the U.S., the Pentagon's top missile defense official said.
The planned U.S. national missile defense system should be ready to protect the country against a North Korean ballistic missile attack by the end of the year according to U.S. Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish.
Japan's proposed missile defense system won't be enough to initially shield the entire country but will still serve as a partial deterrence against a possible North Korean attack.
Japan plans to deploy advanced interceptor missiles to beef up its defense system amid fears that North Korea has up to 170 medium-range missile units targeting the country.
The author looks at the growing threat of cruise missiles, especially given recent tests by North Korea and Iraq, and argues that a sound defense against cruise missiles "depends as much on developing more effective nonproliferation policies as it does on planning for more versatile missile defenses."