Japan to test PAC-3 missile defense in Tokyo: report

A member of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) stands in front of a lorry loaded with a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile canister for training at Iruma Air Base in Sayama, north of Tokyo March 30, 2007. Japan is to test the deployment of high-tech PAC-3 missile interceptors next month at about 10 locations in Tokyo, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported on Sunday.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is to test the deployment of high-tech PAC-3 missile interceptors next month at about 10 locations in Tokyo, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported on Sunday.

Japan's first Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors were deployed in March at Iruma Air Base in Saitama, north of Tokyo, as part of a shield introduced in response to missile tests by North Korea.

But given their limited range, the interceptors would need to be moved closer to the political and financial hub of Tokyo to provide optimal protection if a ballistic missile attack was believed likely.

The exercises next month will determine where the best locations for re-deployment would be, with checks to be conducted into the quality of communications and whether there are any obstacles such as skyscrapers in the areas, the Yomiuri said, quoting sources.

PAC-3 equipment will be moved from Iruma to test locations including a national garden in Shinjuku, central Tokyo, and a military camp next to the defense Ministry.

The ministry plans to hold similar exercises in other parts of the country from the fiscal year starting next April, the Yomiuri added.

The deployment of PAC-3 interceptors, meant to shoot down incoming missiles in the final phase of their flight, was first sparked by North Korea's firing of a ballistic missile in 1998 that flew over Japan.

Japan also plans to test its first ship-based anti-ballistic missile interceptors off Hawaii in a joint exercise with the United States next month.

(Reporting by Chisa Fujioka; editing by Jerry Norton)