Japan tests PAC-3 missile interceptors' capability in Tokyo

Japan sent military trucks into a park in central Tokyo this week to see whether high-tech PAC-3 missile interceptors would be capable of shooting down missiles headed for the city.

Japan has two PAC-3 interceptors at military bases around Tokyo, but given their relatively limited range, they would need to be deployed closer to the center of the city for optimal protection.

The defense ministry said it had tested communication equipment on Monday and yesterday at a park in Shinjuku, central Tokyo, to see if Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors could be moved to the area from outside Tokyo in an emergency.

A spokesman said the ministry was unlikely to disclose the results of the tests, in which it used four trucks with antennas and radio relay equipment. The tests also studied surrounding buildings and the terrain.

The deployments involved transporting the missile units -- but not actual missiles -- to the sites, where surveys of the landscape and electronic noise were taken to determine if missiles could be fired effectively, the spokesman said.

An undisclosed number of soldiers from the Air Self-Defense Force worked on at least four vehicles at the sites.

PAC-3s, which are meant to shoot down incoming missiles in the final phase of their flight, are scheduled to be deployed at two more locations near Tokyo by the end of March.

A newspaper reported last year that Japan may move the interceptors near the imperial palace if it comes under imminent threat of attack, but the ministry spokesman declined to comment on the report.

Last month, Japan successfully tested its Standard missile-3 interceptor system fired from a destroyer off Hawaii. Sea-based missiles would be the first line of defense against a missile attack. If those fail, the land-based PAC-3s would be used as a last-ditch resort to intercept incoming attacks.