Japan prepares to play Missile Command!

March 29, 2009 by Toonleap
Filed under Japan, News

Reality can be stranger than fiction. Japan is preparing itself for what it seems the imminent launch of a rocket by North Korea. This reminds me of Missile Command game but unfortunately, the situation is really serious and Japan is preparing all what they have, to intercept any possible debris of this rocket if it fails to function properly.

TOKYO, March 29 (AP) – (Kyodo)—Facing the prospect of a North Korean rocket flying over parts of its archipelago, Japan is gearing up for unprecedented defense measures however difficult and impractical they may seem to be.

Japan’s defense troops have been given an order to intercept the rocket or its debris in case of a failure of North Korea’s planned launch suspected to be a disguised long-range ballistic missile test. But questions have been raised about such an attempt, which has skeptically been described by a Tokyo government official as like firing a gunshot at a gunshot.

“We will make the best preparations for the projectile case from the viewpoint of ensuring people’s safety and security,” Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said after ordering the Self-Defense Forces on Friday to prepare for the destruction of a rocket North Korea plans to launch should it appear to fall into Japanese territory.

Missile Command game by Atari! (See the similarities?)

Tokyo’s move followed North Korea’s announcement that the reclusive communist country will put an experimental communications satellite into orbit sometime between April 4 and 8.

Japan and its allies, including the United States and South Korea, suspect it may be a disguised test for its longest-range Taepodong-2 ballistic missile because the technology involved to launch a ballistic missile and a rocket is the same.

Pyongyang has carefully taken steps to legitimize the launch, notifying international organizations of two “danger” areas in the sea as supposed booster-dropping zones.

If the rocket shoots up as planned, it is expected to fly over Akita and Iwate prefectures. Tokyo is concerned that if the launch fails, all or part of the projectile might drop somewhere in the northeastern Japan area.

Based on the government order to prepare for such a risk, the SDF has begun deploying guided-missile destroyers and ground-based missile launchers, which together constitute Japan’s antiballistic missile shield, to strategic points in and around the country.

The extraordinary move, however, prompted some senior Japanese government officials to express concerns about the reliability of the country’s fledgling missile shield, which is said to cost almost 1 trillion yen, largely from technical viewpoints.

“It’s true that (interception) is difficult. We don’t know how and where it would be flying over,” Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said in a recent news conference.

A senior government official even suggested it is almost impossible to intercept fast-traveling ballistic missiles or rockets, saying, “You cannot shoot down a pistol bullet with a pistol.”

Under the Japanese plan, the Standard Missile-3 interceptor launched from the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Aegis destroyers deployed in the Sea of Japan would hit the rocket outside the earth’s atmosphere.

Once that failed, the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 guided-missile launched from the Air Self-Defense Force’s Patriot fire units would intercept the object as it reenters the atmosphere.

A possible fault with this plan, however, is the fact that Japan’s ballistic missile shield is designed only to counter North Korea’s Nodong medium-range ballistic missile — which is believed to have a range of 1,300 kilometers.

The type of rocket North Korea may launch this time is believed to be the same as or an improved version of a Taepodong-2 long-range ballistic missile, which may have the range of some 6,000 km or more.

It is “physically difficult” to hit long-range missiles, admits a senior Defense Ministry official. “Japan’s missile shield only targets those with the range of some 1,000 kilometers.”

Besides these technical factors, the interception scenarios include an extremely tricky task of shooting down a rocket or part of it, including its boosters, falling uncontrollably from the sky without taking a ballistic trajectory.

“We cannot compute where the missile is headed when the thrust is still available,” the official said.

The North Korean rocket is expected to fly over Japan while it is still in its boost phase, defense officials said. According to the danger areas Pyongyang has marked out, the first-stage booster is expected to drop into the Sea of Japan off Akita and the second-stage in the Pacific Ocean between Japan and Hawaii.

The PAC-3 fire units deployed to Akita and Iwate prefectures as well as in and around Tokyo only provide protection within the radius of 20 km each, hardly enough to cover large swaths of land.

Even if interception turns out to be successful, fragments of a rocket falling into a populated area could cause more harm than a falling payload would to a pinpoint location.

The North Korean rocket is believed to reach the sky over northeastern Japan less than 10 minutes after its launch. The SDF would have to respond with only moments’ notice if the launch fails in its early stage.

“I’m aware of the news reports (about the government official’s ‘pistol’ remarks). But as I have said repeatedly, we will do our utmost by making all the preparations,” SDF Chief of Staff Gen. Ryoichi Oriki said.

Despite all the commotion the planned launch has caused, government officials coolly say they see it almost unthinkable that the North Korean rocket would fall onto Japan.

“There is almost no possibility of it flying toward our country, judging from the danger areas North Korea has announced and other factors,” a senior government official said on condition of anonymity.

“We have also not thought of asking residents to make special preparations because we believe there is no possibility of it falling onto our territory,” he said.

Source: Kyodo via Breitbart
Photo: Reuters

Of course, it is not the first time a nation uses a system to intercept missiles. (Remember the Gulf War?) Lets just hope this doesnt get worst because with Climate shift and other global problems, We don´t need a new World War scenario.

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