Japan Successfully Tests Anti-missile System

Japan's controversial deployment of a sea-based missile defense system capable of repelling attacks by North Korea moved closer today after one of its naval destroyers shot down a ballistic missile during a test in the Pacific ocean.

The operation, early this morning, is expected to anger North Korea as it negotiates an end to its nuclear weapons program. It could also heighten tensions with China, which suspects the system could be used to defend Taiwan in the event of a war over independence.

Although China did not respond directly to the test, Qin Gang, a foreign ministry spokesman, said: "We have taken note that Japan has reiterated many times it will follow the path of peaceful development. We hope the actions of Japan shall be conducive to the peace and stability of the region."

Japanese and US officials said the $55m (£27m) dummy run was proof of the strength of bilateral ties, despite recent tension over Tokyo's withdrawal from a refueling mission in support of US troops in Afghanistan and rows over the funding of US bases in Japan.

"This was a monumental event in the Japan-US security relationship," a Japanese defence ministry official told reporters after the test on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

US and Japanese military personnel cheered and applauded as monitors showed the interceptor track down and destroy the missile 100 miles above the sea, about three minutes after the missile was launched from the Kongo, one of four Japanese destroyers that will be equipped with the system over the next three years.

The defense minister, Shigeru Ishiba, said: "We are taking one step at a time. Just because it worked this time doesn't mean we can rely on it 100%."

Japan's quest to develop its own missile shield was given greater urgency in 1998 after North Korea test-fired a Taepodong-1 ballistic missile over its territory. The missile landed in the Pacific ocean.

Japan believes it is a prime target for attacks from the communist state, which conducted more missile tests last July.

"This is very significant for Japanese national security," Nobutaka Machimura, Japan's top spokesman, said in Tokyo. "The defense ministry and the government have been putting efforts into the development of ballistic missile defense, and we will continue to install the needed equipment and conduct exercises."

The test, the first of its kind by any country other than the US, combined the US's Aegis detection and tracking system and a Standard Missile-3 [SM-3] interceptor made by the US defense firm Raytheon.

The SM-3 interceptors will complement Japan's Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles [PAC-3], which are designed to intercept incoming missiles missed by the SM-3, to become part of a missile shield expected to cost up to 1 trillion yen.

PAC-3 interceptors have already been deployed at two air bases near Tokyo, and there are plans to test them at other sites in the coming months.