US deploys mobile missile-tracking system in Japan

Tokyo: For the first time, US forces have deployed a mobile missile-tracking station in Japan as part of their efforts to protect Japan against a potential attack from North Korea. According to defence officials, the Joint Tactical Ground Station was being set up at the Misawa base in Aomori, the northernmost prefecture of Japan''s most populous island of Honshu.

This is the second such unit deployed by the United States in the region, after South Korea, according to Japanese defence ministry officials.

The system is itself operated by US service personnel from an army base in the US State of Colorado, and consists of a vehicle equipped with three satellite antennas and information-processing equipment. The system is meant to send news of any incoming missile to the US military and Japanese defence ministry officials.

The deployment comes after Tokyo and Washington launched work on a missile defence shield for Japan after North Korea shocked the region in 1998 by firing a long-range missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean. Work on the missile defence shield continues apace despite ongoing negotiations with North Korea aimed at halting its nuclear drive in return for aid and other benefits.

Japan has already installed Patriot surface-to-air missile interceptors in the Tokyo area early on in the year. The system was also installed last year on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, which is the military hub for 40,000 US troops based in Japan.