all your godzilla belong to us!
please forgive me. :)
Posted on 12/17/2007 10:54:55 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Japan shoots down test missile in space: official
by Miwa Suzuki 47 minutes ago
Japan said Tuesday that it had successfully shot down a ballistic missile over the Pacific as part of joint efforts with the United States to erect a shield against possible attacks from North Korea.
Japan tested the US-developed Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) interceptor from a warship in waters off Hawaii, becoming the first US ally to successfully intercept a target using the system.
Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba described the successful test as "extremely significant."
"We will continue to strive to increase the system's credibility," he told reporters, insisting that the missile shield was worth the high cost. "We can't talk about how much money should be spent when human lives are at stake."
The Japanese destroyer Kongou launched the missile from waters off Hawaii, which at 7:12 am Japan time (2212 GMT Monday) intercepted the target missile fired earlier from onshore, Japan's naval force said in a statement.
"The Maritime Self-Defense Force will continue to cooperate with the United States and improve the capability" to shoot down incoming missiles, it added.
The interception was made about 100 miles above the Pacific Ocean, officials said.
The test was "a major milestone in the growing cooperation between Japan and the US," Japanese Rear Admiral Katsutoshi Kawano and Lieutenant General Henry Obering, director of the US Missile Defense Agency, said in a joint statement.
Previous participation had been limited to tracking and communications exercises, they noted.
Japan and the United States have been working jointly to erect a missile shield against possible attacks from North Korea, which fired a missile over Japan's main island and into the Pacific Ocean in 1998.
But the missile defence system could affect Japan's relations with its neighbours "by arousing suspicion in enemy countries," said Yoshikazu Sakamoto, professor emeritus of the University of Tokyo.
"With regards to North Korea, Japan needs to enhance efforts in diplomatic negotiations to seriously address Pyongyang's military threat," he said.
Japan's test outraged peace activists.
Missile defence tests "facilitate military unification of Japan and the United States" and defy Japan's war-denouncing constitution, said Koji Sugihara, a member of a civic group campaigning against nuclear and missile tests.
SM-3 missile interceptors are being put on Japanese destroyers equipped with the state-of-the-art Aegis air-defence system. Japan plans to install the missile shield on four Aegis destroyers by March 2011, including the Kongou.
The success of the SM-3 test paves the way for completion of Japan's missile defence involving missiles fired from both warships and ground-based launchers.
The SM-3 system fires missiles from warships to intercept incoming ballistic missiles outside of the earth's atmosphere.
If the intercepting missile misses the target, the second stage of the shield system, ground-based Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) missile interceptors, aims to shoot it down.
Japan introduced its first PAC-3 missile launcher at the Iruma air force base north of Tokyo in March, one year ahead of schedule amid tense relations with North Korea, which also tested a nuclear bomb last year.
Ping!
This is so cool. North Korea can go ahead and develop it’s missiles, starving it’s people to pour all their funds into worthless systems. Japan with our help will simply shoot down their missiles. Gotta love it!
Sadly, I see that Japan’s “suicide first” brigade has already weighed in on this.
The best part is that now the Dems can’t say that BMD is just a propaganda effort organized by the US military-industrial complex.
Japan just proved all the Dems who said it couldn’t be done wrong - with our tech.
Somewhere, Ronald Reagan is getting the last laugh.
He sure is. Wasn’t it Teller that whispered in Reagan’s ear? I believe it was. Both are having the last laugh.
Could have had it a decade ago with cooperation from the Dems.
Way to go Japan!
I fear that the USA has lost some of that defense ability because of its broad ports of mass importation and other socio-political factors,
MWD could be more easily delivered by ground transport from an anonymous source
I hope they have advanced since the day about 2 years ago when the N. Koreans launched a short range missile flying over Japan and they didn’t even realize it until the U.S. military told them about it.
Japan tested the US-developed Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) interceptor from a warship in waters off Hawaii
Regards
What, no giant robot to destroy the incoming missle? I expected more from the Japanese.
True, but they are nowhere near as strong as they are in Europe or even America. Most Japanese ignore them like the crazy uncle in the attic.
It is truly amazing what we can accomplish despite the best efforts by the DemocRats to derail everything in the best interests of this country that they see. We have a roaring economy, victory is at hand in Iraq, the Amnesty bill was killed for the time being, etc.
What a bunch of abject failures the DemocRats are!
It’s not just the U.S. that can shoot down missiles. Japan can do it now, too!
With two different systems: SM-3 on ships and PAC-3 (for atmospheric intercepts) on land.
Likewise, Israel has the PAC-3 and Arrow systems.
Of course, the U.S. already has some 36+ ground based interceptors for kills in space (our 3rd phase).
And soon the U.S. will be deploying our airborne laser to knock down missiles, for the 4th phase of our missile defenses.
We in effect accept trogan horses every day. With only 2% (if that) of the incoming cargo containers being examined, we’re just asking for it.
If ten to twenty cargo containers went off in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong cargo, we could lose a significant portion of our population in a few moments.
My fellow citizens value the almight buck more than safety, and it will be our undoing.
Massive news.
Good for Japan!
Well, our own suicide first brigade has been weighing in for a couple of decades now. Japan's got nothing on us in that department.
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