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Japan, US tune up defense policies
By Hisane Masaki
of the country. For this reason, the Defense Agency requested recently that the
US deploy a seaborne missile defense system around Japan as soon as possible.
The US Navy already stationed in late August the USS Shiloh, a cruiser equipped
with both the Aegis missile tracking and engaging system and Standard Missile-3
(SM3) interceptor missiles, at Yokosuka Naval Base near Tokyo. The Shiloh is
one
of three upgraded, Aegis-equipped warships and is the first to be deployed
outside the US.
The US Navy plans to mount SM3 missiles on two of the seven other warships
stationed at the base. The upgrade work is expected to begin before the end of
this month, and the two upgraded warships will be deployed next spring, at the
earliest. The US Navy plans to install SM3 missiles on two more of the warships
stationed at the base later, bringing the total number of US ships equipped
with the SM3 system to five.
Tokyo plans to install the SM3 system on its Aegis-equipped destroyer Kongou by
the end of calendar 2007, instead of by the end of fiscal 2007 on March 31,
2008, as had been planned earlier. Japan also plans to finish refitting its
three other Aegis ships so they can carry the SM3 system by the end of fiscal
2010.
Japan and the US envisage a two-stage interception system to deal with a
possible missile attack. First, Aegis vessels from both countries would try to
intercept an incoming missile in space by launching SM3 missiles. If
unsuccessful, the PAC3 missiles would provide the next line of defense. North
Korea test-fired a Taepodong-1 missile in 1998, which flew over Japan and fell
into the Pacific. The Stalinist state has already deployed an estimated 200 or
so shorter-range Rodong missiles that are capable of striking almost anywhere
in Japanese territory.
Meanwhile, US forces began to deploy PAC3 interceptor missiles at Kadena Air
Base on Okinawa in September to make them partly operational by the end of the
year. The deployment at Kadena - the largest US air base in East Asia - is the
first at a US facility in Japan. In a related development, Japan has also asked
the US to deploy its PAC3s at its bases in the Tokyo metropolitan area, most
likely at Yokota Air Base and Yosokuka.
In late September, the US military activated a unit operating a high-powered
X-band radar at Camp Shariki in the northern Japanese prefecture of Aomori that
is capable of tracking ballistic missiles in the region, a key part of the
joint missile defense project. The high-resolution radar is so powerful that it
can identify baseball-size objects from thousands of kilometers away and is
designed to differentiate between decoys and real missile warheads.
The Japanese government decided last December to start joint development with
the US of an advanced version of the sea-based SM3 interceptor missile as a
pillar of the US-led missile defense system. The joint development cost of the
new interceptor missile is estimated to be as much as $2.7 billion, with Japan
shouldering up to $1.2 billion and the US paying for the remainder. The two
allies plan to begin production of the next-generation interceptor missile in
fiscal 2015, which will be deployed on Aegis-equipped destroyers.
Prompted by North Korea's nuclear test, the Abe government has begun to
consider stretching the boundaries of the constitution to make it possible for
Japan to strike North Korean ballistic missiles heading to the US, a move that
has been surprisingly controversial. In 2003, the government of then prime
minister Koizumi issued a statement that Japan cannot shoot down missiles bound
for the US because doing so would tantamount to collective defense - or coming
to the military aid of an ally under attack - banned under the constitution.
Forces realignment
At the last such meeting in Washington, Japan and the United States compiled
the final report on the realignment of US forces in Japan. At the next
two-plus-two meeting, the two countries are expected to agree to firmly
implement the agreements in the report, especially the relocation of the US
Marine Corps's Futenma Air Station from a densely populated area in Ginowan,
southern Okinawa, to coastal areas of Camp Schwab in the northern Okinawa city
of Nago by 2014.
The Futenma relocation is one of the major issues among the plans for US
military realignment in Japan, which also call for moving 8,000 of the 18,000
marines stationed on Okinawa to Guam, also by 2014. The US has made the agreed
marine transfer conditional on progress on the relocation plan.
The meeting comes about two months after the Okinawa gubernatorial election on
November 19, in which a candidate backed by the Democratic Party of Japan and
other opposition parties, who was a staunch opponent of the presence of US
bases in the prefecture, lost to another candidate supported by Abe's Liberal
Democratic Party-led ruling coalition.
The ruling coalition was relieved that Hirokazu Nakaima won the election.
Nakaima's victory undoubtedly will help advance the US forces realignment
process, as he has voiced his willingness to accept the relocation of the
Futenma Air Station within the prefecture. The opposition candidate had
demanded the transfer of the station outside of Japan. But the Futenma
relocation plan will still face rough going, because Nakaima demands
modifications to the plan.
Next year will mark the 10th anniversary of an original 1997 agreement between
Tokyo and Washington on removing the Futenma base and returning the land to
Okinawa. This original plan to build new facilities to relocate the base from
Ginowan to a site off Henoko, also in the city of Nago, bogged down in the face
of strong local opposition. If the new relocation plan does not proceed for
completion by the target year of 2014, the Japan-US security alliance could
suffer a lot.
Iraq policy
The Abe cabinet will approve on Friday an extension of the Air SDF's mission in
Iraq until next July 31. The cabinet first approved the government's basic plan
for Iraqi reconstruction assistance in December 2003. Since then, its extension
has been approved annually, in 2004 and 2005. The upcoming approve will mark
the third extension.
The four-year law was enacted in July 2003 to enable Japan to dispatch SDF
troops to Iraq, the first SDF mission to a combat zone after World War II.
Although about 600 Ground SDF troops stationed in the southern Iraqi city of
Samawah withdrew from Iraq in July, the Air SDF unit based in Kuwait is
continuing its mission. The units have been transporting personnel and supplies
for the UN and the multinational forces.
Defense Agency director general Kyuma has said the special law needs to be
extended to allow the Air SDF to continue its mission as part of reconstruction
assistance to Iraq. Air SDF members began airlifts from their base in Kuwait to
certain airports in Iraq in March 2004 using C-130 transport aircraft,
initially to support Ground SDF troops in Samawah.
Hisane Masaki is a Tokyo-based journalist, commentator and scholar on
international politics and economy. Masaki's e-mail address is yiu45535@nifty.com.
