Japan to deploy more advanced PAC-3 Patriot Missiles to defend U.S.
Leaders in Guam, South Korea, and Japan expressed hope that war is not imminent, but they're all preparing for any eventuality.
While advising people to continue their business as usual, GuamÂ’s Office of Civil Defense began distributing a fact sheet entitled "Preparing for an Imminent Missile Threat." In case a missile is approaching, keep calm and, if you're caught outside:
"Do not look at the flash or fireball — it can blind you. Lie flat on the ground and cover your head."
Japan is holding missile evacuation drills for the public, and is doing a lot more: Planning to install additional Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) anti-missile systems. There is particular concern about the three prefectures that North Korea threatened: the Shimane, Hiroshima and Kochi Prefectures.
Japan is saying that since Japan is potentially threatened by the North Korean missiles, they are justified in shooting them down. This would require the government to declare a "survival-threatening situation."
Japan currently has a two-level missile defense system.
The Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) system mounted on Aegis-equipped destroyers can shoot down incoming ballistic missiles in outer space at a maximum altitude of about 500 kilometers. The SM-3 system is designed to shoot down missiles traveling on a parabolic path when they start descending.
The second layer of Japan's missile defenses are the surface-to-air Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) guided missiles, which can destroy targets at altitudes between 10 and 20 kilometers if SM-3 interceptor missiles are not effective. The countryÂ’s 34 PAC-3 units attached to 17 anti-aircraft units are mostly deployed in densely populated areas like the Tokyo metropolitan and Kyushu regions as well as at major Self-Defense Forces bases. It's expected that Japan will redeploy two PAC-3 systems to the prefectures threatened by North Korea. Japan News and Japan Times and Nikkei Asian Review
Japan's government will invoke 'collective self-defense' to defend the United States
Article 9 of Japan's constitution, imposed on Japan by US Gen. Douglas MacArthur at the end of World War II, renounced war and the threat or use of force. Technically, Japan does not have the right to shoot down North Korean missiles.
The pacifist Article 9 remains extremely controversial. Many conservatives see it as a humiliating imposition, while liberals view it as the basis of Japan's peace and democracy.
Prime minister Shinzo Abe has repeatedly said that the would like to amend Article 9, but he's never had the votes to do it. However, in 2015, he was able to bring about passage of a reinterpretation of the self-defense clause to include "collective self-defense." The old self-defense clause of the constitution has been interpreted to permit military action only when Japan itself is being attacked, and only on Japanese soil. The new collective defense laws reinterpret the self-defense clause to include "collective self-defense," which would permit military action anywhere in the world under some circumstances when an ally (such as the United States) is attacked. I discussed the meaning of "collective self-defense" in detail in 2014.
Japan's Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera on Thursday said that it would be necessary to declare a "survival-threatening situation," which would enable Japan to exercise its right of collective self-defense, with a view to intercepting North Korean missiles on behalf of Japan's ally, the United States. According Japanese officials, certain conditions would have to be met:
"If it is judged that North Korea indicates a clear intention to attack the United States and starts missile launch preparations, an armed attack would be considered to have occurred. ...
However, if North Korea says itÂ’s targeting the missiles outside [U.S.] territorial waters, it would be difficult to call it an attack against the United States and declare a survival-threatening situation."
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