Japan deploys interceptor near DPRK missile flight path

To shoot down or not to shoot down?


Tuesday, September 19, 2017, 15:52
[size=36]Japan deploys interceptor near DPRK missile flight path
By Associated Press
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Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor missile system (PAC3) is deployed at the Hakodate base of Japan's Self-Defense Forces, Sept 19, 2017 in Hakodate, northern Japan. Japan is moving a mobile missile-defense system on the northern island of Hokkaido to a base near flyover routes of a missile fired by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. (KYODO NEWS VIA AP)
TOKYO — Japan on Tuesday moved a mobile missile-defense system on the northern island of Hokkaido to a base near recent flyover routes of a missile fired by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

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The relocation came after a DPRK missile flew over southern Hokkaido and landed in the Pacific off the island's east coast

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Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor unit was deployed at the Hakodate base on southern Hokkaido "as a precaution" as part of government preparations for a possible emergency.
The relocation came after a DPRK missile was test-fired last week and flew over southern Hokkaido and landed in the Pacific off the island's east coast — the second flyover in less than a month.
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The PAC-3 was brought from another base in Yakumo town on Hokkaido, about 80 kilometers northeast of Hakodate. The system has a range of about 20 kilometers.
Four more of Japan's 34 PAC-3 units, largely used to defend the capital region, were relocated to southwestern Japan recently after the DPRK warned of sending missiles toward the US territory of Guam.
This undated photo distributed on Sept 16, 2017, by the DPRK government shows what was said to be the test launch of an intermediate range Hwasong-12 in the DPRK. (KCNA/KOREA NEWS SERVICE via AP)
Japan currently has a two-step missile defense system. First, Standard Missile-3 interceptors on Aegis destroyers in the Sea of Japan would attempt to shoot down missiles mid-flight. If that fails, surface-to-air PAC-3s would try to intercept them.
ALSO READ: Japan urges DPRK to return to negotiating table
Japan's Constitution, which limits the use of force to self-defense, only allows the military to shoot down missiles that are heading to Japan, or debris falling onto Japanese territory. Onodera has said a new security law passed in 2015 might allow it to shoot down a Guam-bound missile if it poses a critical security threat to Japan and its top ally, the United States.[/size]