PAC-3s to Okinawa?

[Grey Havoc]

Govt may send PAC-3s to Okinawa / SDF readying for launch of DPRK rocket

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The government is considering a plan to deploy Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) missiles in Okinawa Prefecture for the possible interception of a rocket that North Korea will launch next month.

Pyongyang claims that the rocket is carrying a satellite.

The Self-Defense Forces may be ordered to shoot down the rocket if it enters Japanese airspace. The order would be issued in early April at the earliest.

The government is also looking into the possibility of deploying Aegis-equipped destroyers in the East China Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

The government disclosed Monday that North Korea would launch the rocket within a April 12-16 time frame and between 7 a.m. and noon, quoting information it received from the International Maritime Organization.

At a House of the Councillors Budget Committee session Monday, Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka said he was considering ordering the SDF to destroy the satellite-carrying rocket in line with Paragraph 1, Clause 3 of Article 82 of the SDF law if it passes over Japan.

Under the SDF law, the defense minister is empowered to issue an order to destroy a ballistic missile if it enters Japanese airspace upon approval of the prime minister following a decision by the National Security Council and the cabinet.

The ministry analyzed the notice of the planned rocket launch that North Korea submitted to the IMO and the International Civil Aviation Organization to predict where it will fall.

The analysis shows that the rocket will fall into the Pacific off the Philippines after passing over the Sakishima islands southwest of Okinawa Island.

Based on this projection, the SDF is preparing to deploy Aegis destroyers to the waters around the predicted area and may deploy PAC-3 missiles on Okinawa Island and other islands in Okinawa and Kagoshima prefectures.

U.S. PAC-3 troops are stationed in Okinawa Prefecture. If a PAC-3 unit is deployed, it would mark the first time the SDF has deployed such a unit in the prefecture.

(Mar. 21, 2012)

[LINK]

 

[Triton]

Thanks for posting, Grey Havoc.

 

[Grey Havoc]

No problem.


http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Japan_prepares_defences_against_N_Korean_rocket_999.html

Japan on Friday readied its missile defence systems to shoot down a North Korean rocket if it threatens the country, as the UN chief warned that next month's launch could jeopardise food aid.

"I have ordered officials to prepare to deploy the PAC-3 and Aegis warships," Japan's Defence Minister Naoki Tanaka told reporters, referring to surface-to-air missiles and destroyers carrying missiles.

 

[Grey Havoc]

A bit of background:

http://newpacificinstitute.org/asw/?p=10758

And:

http://www.northkoreatech.org/2012/03/28/more-on-north-koreas-satellite-mission/


EDIT: An interesting report: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/world/T120325002891.htm

 

[Grey Havoc]

SDF ordered to shoot down missile

The SDF is now preparing for an interception, deploying missiles such as the surface-to-air Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) and sea-to-air Standard Missile-3 (SM-3).

This is the second time Japan has issued an order to shoot down a missile. The first was in 2009 when North Korea launched a missile.

The order defines the target as "a missile considered to have been launched from North Korea [or its fragments] and confirmed to be falling within Japanese territory." The order will be effective until April 16.

Missile has SDF, Okinawa residents on alert

F-15s to be sent to guard Aegis ships

(The Yomiuri Shimbun)

 

[sferrin]

Interesting that they'd send F-15s to guard Aegis ships. Guess it gives them more flexibility in response.

 

[Sea Skimmer]

Like that second article says, the radars on the destroyers cannot do BMD and air defense at the same time. All the available duty cycle will be sucked into generating the long range scans for detecting and tracking the ballistic threats. The radar also act as the uplink for missile mid course guidance so that eats up even more duty cycle. This is a major limitation of the dated SPY-1 technology, and even more so the single transmitter design of Burke and Kongo/Atago class destroyers. Only one beam can be generated from one of the four radar faces at a time in any scanning mode. On A Ticonderoga you at least have two transmitters, so each one is only split between two faces, but this still has serious limits.
Now that DDG-1000 with all solid state radars is dead and wont even mount both planned radars, the USN solution to this pressing problem is to add a second smaller SPY-3 radar on Flight III Burke, if that design ever works, and eventually solid state main radar that can make multiple beams. Japan has said that new AKizuki class destroyers with FCS-3 phased arrays controlling ESSM will act as bodyguards for the BMD ships in the future, but lead ship Akizuki has only just commissioned a few weeks ago and is not yet operational.

 

[Grey Havoc]

Two Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile launchers are deployed on Ishigakijima island, Okinawa Prefecture, on Thursday morning.
[IMAGE CREDIT:THE DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE]​

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120405005060.htm​

 

[Grey Havoc]

A related development: North Korea completes assembly of rocket at launch pad (Daily Telegraph)

 

[Grey Havoc]

Ready and waiting

The Yomiuri Shimbun

A surface-to-air Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile interceptor launcher vehicle is positioned at the Defense Ministry in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, on Saturday. In preparation for North Korea's planned launch of a ballistic missile later this month, the Air Self-Defense Force deployed the PAC-3 interceptors early Saturday at three Self-Defense Forces facilities in the Tokyo metropolitan area: the Defense Ministry; the Asaka Training Area in Asaka, Saitama Prefecture; and the Narashino Training Ground in Funabashi and Yachiyo, Chiba Prefecture. The PAC-3 system has already been deployed at four locations in Okinawa Prefecture.

(Apr. 9, 2012)


http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20120409dy01.htm

 

[Grey Havoc]

PAC-3 surface-to-air missiles are deployed at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on April 7. (Photo by Eiji Hori)
(Via AJW [The Asahi Shimbun])​

 

[Grey Havoc]

[The Asahi Shimbun]​

 

[Grey Havoc]

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120410005258.htm​

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17673741​

A North Korean soldier stands in front of the country's Unha-3 rocket, slated for liftoff between Apr. 12 to 16. Photo: AP/David Guttenfelder
(Via Wired.com)​

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/04/noko-lying-launch/​

 

[Grey Havoc]

Digitalglobe / via AFP - Getty Images
This DigitalGlobe satellite image obtained April 11, 2012, shows an image of the Tongchang-ri Launch Facility in North Korea. This image was taken April 9, 2012.
(MSNBC)


http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/11/11145861-north-koreans-desperate-for-western-approval-of-launch?lite​

 

[Grey Havoc]

Launch vehicles for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles sit at Ishigaki Port on Ishigakijima island, Okinawa Prefecture, on Wednesday morning.​

[IMAGE CREDIT:THE DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE]​

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120411005548.htm​

 

[Grey Havoc]

In case you're interested, one of our new members, ISNJH, is having a crack at doing a 3D reconstruction of the Tongchang-ri Launch pad over in User Artwork: http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,14912.0.html

 

[Grey Havoc]

No sign of N. Korean missile on 1st day (Daily Yomiuri Online)

EDIT: Failure is an option for North Korea satellite ... then what? (MSNBC)

 

[Grey Havoc]

U.S.: North Korea launches rocket (CNN)

North Korea launches long-range rocket (BBC)

N.Korea Launches Rocket Over Pacific (The Chosun Ilbo)

N. Korea launches long-range rocket (Yonhap News Agency)

 

[sublight]

I can hardly wait to hear where the pieces of the failure rained down....

 

[ISNJH]

From what I am hearing the majority of rocket/missile debris from the launch has landed in South Korean waters, meaning that there is a good chance of recovery of a large number of the the parts for inspection and could perhaps yield a large amount of information about the Norths ballistic missile program..


Also tomorrow I hope to get more work done on the Tongchang-ri launch site reconstruction..

 

[Grey Havoc]

North Korea Long-Range Rocket Launch Fails: Reports (Space.com)

<a href="http://www.space.com/15006-north-korea-unha-3-rocket-launch-infographic.html"> <img src="http://www.space.com/images/i/16108/i02/north-korea-satellite-rocket-120410a-02.jpg?1334097301" alt="Find out about North Korea's attempt to launch a satellite into Earth orbit, in this SPACE.com infographic." width="575" border="1"/></a>
Source: <a href="http://www.space.com">SPACE.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration</a>​

 

[Grey Havoc]

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/04/12/north_korean_missile_launch_torpedoes_obama_s_engagement_strategy

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/13/us-north-korea-rocket-idUSBRE83B1OR20120413


Looks like the first stage worked as planned, it was the second stage that suffered a catastrophic failure, likely just after first stage separation.

EDIT: Seems like it was actually prior to first stage burnout and separation when it failed.

 

[Grey Havoc]

Govt took 43 minutes to announce missile launch (The Yomiuri Shimbun)

Russian spy planes fly close to border (Jiji Press/ Daily Yomiuri Online)

 

[seruriermarshal]

F-22 + NCADE B)

 

[Grey Havoc]

Weakness revealed in govt communications (Yomiuri Shimbun)​

[IMAGE CREDITS: Daily Yomiuri Online]​

EDIT: Should have posted this much earlier; Encyclopedia Astronautica entries on the Unha 3 and it's launch site:​

http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/unha3.htm
http://www.astronautix.com/sites/tonangri.htm​

 

[Deino]

Hmmm ... we don't have a tread on NK's long-range missiles !

Here are a few good images of the latest type shown for the first time last weekend. Since I'm actually not a missile-guy, can anyone help me out what's this beast ??

Deino

 

[sferrin]

That's the size of a Yars TEL. ICBM-sized.

 

[seruriermarshal]

Beijing’s Kim Connection Photos show Chinese mobile launcher for new North Korean ICBM, prompting calls for arms sanctions on Beijing

April 17, 2012 5:03 pm

A new North Korean mobile missile recently made public is built on a transporter-launcher nearly identical to a Chinese mobile launcher, according to U.S. officials and private analysts.

The disclosure of the apparent Chinese-North Korean missile cooperation prompted a senior House Republican on Tuesday to ask the Obama administration whether U.S. sanctions should be imposed on China for illicit arms transfers.

Rep. Michael R. Turner (R., Ohio), chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces, stated in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper that the new missile appears “based on Chinese technology in violation of international obligations and [poses] a threat to the national security interests of the United States.”

Turner has led efforts in the House to sound the alarm on the new long-range mobile missile in recent hearings and in earlier letters to the Obama administration.

“As if the threat of a North Korean road-mobile ICBM wasn’t bad enough, the photographs of this new missile from the military parade in Pyongyang suggest cooperation and support from the People’s Republic of China,” Turner said, noting “the gravity of the threat.”

Turner asked Clinton and Clapper to report to Congress on any evidence of Chinese companies supplying mobile missile launchers and, if such evidence exists, when such cooperation became known.

He also asked whether the Obama administration has taken any steps to halt China’s missile cooperation with North Korea.

The congressman also asked whether Chinese cooperation with North Korea violates U.N. sanctions on North Korea, or the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act.

“If so, when will the United States invoke such sanctions as are available against China and Chinese entities for this apparent support for the North Korean ballistic missile program,” Turner asked Clinton and Clapper.

Turner said the United States “cannot permit a state such as the People’s Republic of China to support—intentionally or by a convenient lack of attention—the ambitions of a state like North Korea to threaten the security of the American people.”

“Indeed, such cooperation undermines the administration’s entire policy of investing China with the responsibility for getting tough of North Korea,” he said.

A North Korean military parade in Pyongyang April 15 included a new long-range missile identified as the KN-08 mobile ICBM.

Shawn Turner, a spokesman for Clapper, said the agency is reviewing the letter. He had no other immediate comment.

Rep. Turner’s letter quoted Richard Fisher, a China military analyst, as the first analyst to identify the origin of the launcher for the missile as the WS2600, a 16-wheel transporter erector launcher first designed by the 9th Academy of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), also known as the Sanjiang Special Vehicle Company.

“This entity also produces the ‘WS’ series of TELs that are used by CASIC’s DF-11, DF-16, and DF-21 short and medium range missiles,” said Fisher, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center in Washington.

Based on the size and three stages of the missile, its range is estimated to be between 3,100 miles and 3,720 miles, enough to hit targets with a small warhead as far away as Alaska.

“In a threat that has been developing for over a decade, the KN-08 not only threatens Alaskans, but will also threaten Alaskan petroleum transshipment points crucial to the American economy, all of which justifies additional missile defense assets for Alaska. This missile could easily reach Guam, Okinawa, and the Philippines,” Fisher warned in a letter to Turner.

Fisher obtained a brochure from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp. that shows the North Korean missile’s 16-wheel mobile launcher to be nearly identical.

In Fisher’s analysis, the two launchers have nearly the same windshield design and cab roofline, a very similar grill and front bumper lights, and a similar cabin design.

“There is either a Chinese factory for this thing in North Korea or more likely, these are coming off the production line at the Sanjiang factory,” Fisher said in an interview.
“It is a Chinese machine and raises questions as to whether the missile is also produced in China,” he said.
China in the past sold solid mobile missiles to Pakistan, including the DF-11 and DF-16 short-range missiles.
Two other analysts with the British defense analysis firm IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly also said the launcher appears to be Chinese.
Ted Parsons, a correspondent with Jane’s, also noted the launcher similarities. “CASIC’s involvement in North Korea’s missile program would require approval from the highest levels of the Chinese government and the People’s Liberation Army,” Parsons said in an email.
Another Jane’s expert, James Hardy, said: “If confirmed, China’s involvement in providing this erector-launcher to North Korea would put it in breach of U.N. Security Council resolution 1874, which prohibits supplying North Korea with ‘any arms or related materiel, or providing financial transactions, technical training, services, or assistance related to such arms.’”
“The possibility that China is supporting North Korea’s strategic weapons program complicates international efforts to negotiate with North Korea and could fatally undermine the six-party talks, which are hosted by China and are built on the premise that there is a unanimous desire to prevent the North from developing a nuclear capability,” Hardy said.
Another major worry, according to Fisher, is that North Korea will proliferate the mobile launchers to Iran, which developed its mobile Shahab-3 missile from North Korea’s medium-range Nodong missile.
Fisher said he believes the new missile represents a crisis for U.S.-China relations.
If the missile launcher transfer is confirmed, Fisher said, “This should cause a wholesale re-evaluation of our relations with China.”
“China has put a nuclear bullet in North Korea’s gun, and it is aimed at the United States and its allies,” Fisher said.
Disclosure of the apparent Chinese-North Korean missile cooperation comes as the administration announced on Tuesday that it plans to hold the next round of U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing May 3.
The talks will include Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and China’s State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Vice Premier Wang Qishan. The talks also include a military element. China’s proliferation activities have been a subject of the talks in the past.
A CIA report to Congress made public in February made no mention of the new North Korean mobile ICBM or China’s role in providing missile equipment and technology.
However, the report said North Korea is continuing to build more sophisticated and longer-range mobile missiles with help from “various foreign sources.”
The report, drafted by the CIA’s Weapons, Intelligence Nonproliferation, and Arms Control Center, known as WINPAC, also said China continued to sell short-range missiles and related equipment for systems under the 300-mile range proscribed by the Missile Technology Control Regime.
“China regularly assures the world that it opposes North Korea’s obtaining nuclear weapons, and has taken a high profile role in leading international negotiations ostensibly to ‘convince’ North Korea to halt its nuclear missile programs,” Fisher said.
“This most recent action, if confirmed, indicates that China is a key partner in helping North Korea to build its future missile forces, which may soon be capable enough to attack the United States and its allies with nuclear warheads.”
Adm. Robert Willard, outgoing commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, publicly confirmed North Korea’s development of a new mobile ICBM during a congressional hearing March 2. “There is development within North Korea of a road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile system that we’ve observed,” Willard said.


http://freebeacon.com/beijings-kim-connection/

 

[seruriermarshal]

U.S. ENGINE IN CHINESE LAUNCHER?
New details emerged this week about the controversial photographs showing what appears to be a Chinese-made, road-mobile launcher carrying North Korea's new long-range missile.
The new mobile missile was made public for the first time during a military parade in Pyongyang on Sunday.
Hong Kong's Phoenix Television reported Monday that the Chinese launcher may have a U.S.-made Cummins Inc. diesel engine.
The report said the manufacturer of the launcher, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp., advertised on its website a special, heavy-duty off-road vehicle with a cab very similar to the cab of what analysts say is the company's mobile missile launcher that appeared on the streets of Pyongyang.
The Phoenix report said the 16-wheel mobile missile transporter-launcher was likely China Aerospace's WS2600 and that the launcher is based on a design called the WS51200. The main difference between the two is that the launcher's cab can accommodate a missile nose cone on its roof.
According to a China Aerospace brochure, the civilian vehicle uses a Cummins KTTA19-C700 engine and a German-made automatic transmission produced by ZF Friedrichshafen AG, which used to build Zeppelins.
The Obama administration is investigating whether China violated U.N. sanctions on North Korea by supplying strategic missile technology to North Korea.
The Phoenix report likely will trigger additional inquiries into whether U.S. engines are helping the rogue's state's long-range missile program.


http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/apr/18/inside-the-ring-aegis-ashore-moves-ahead/print/

 

[seruriermarshal]

Analysts: China broke sanctions if N. Korea using its missile launcher

China likely provided the mobile long-range missile launcher that North Korea displayed in a military parade over the weekend, which would put Beijing in violation of U.N. sanctions, analysts say.

The 16-wheeled vehicle, known as a transporter-erector-launcher (TEL), is apparently based on a Chinese design, said Ted Parsons of IHS Jane's Defense Weekly.

The Chinese and North Korean versions of the TEL “have the same windscreen design, the same four windscreen wiper configuration, the same door and handle design, a very similar grill area, almost the same front bumper lighting configuration, and the same design for the cabin steps,” Mr. Parsons noted.

North Korea’s TEL was featured in a massive parade in Pyongyang over the weekend, one of a series of events held to commemorate the centenary of the communist regime’s founder, Kim Il-sung.

“If confirmed, China’s involvement in providing this erector-launcher to North Korea would put it in breach of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874,” said James Hardy, the Asia Pacific editor for Jane's Defense Weekly.

The resolution bans countries from supplying North Korea with “any arms or related materiel, or providing financial transactions, technical training, services, or assistance related to such arms.”

The supply of such a vehicle to North Korea in defiance of international sanctions “would require approval from the highest levels of the Chinese government and the People’s Liberation Army,” said Mr. Parsons.

That has serious implications for the six-party talks on curbing North Korea’s nuclear program - the only forum for discussions between Pyongyang and the international community.

China, which hosts the talks, has been consulting with the U.S., Russia, Japan and South Korea to persuade the North to give up its nuclear weapons program in exchange for concessions like food aid or a suspension of sanctions.

If China has been secretly aiding the North Korean ballistic missile program, that “could fatally undermine the six-party talks [because they are] built on the premise that there is a unanimous desire to prevent the North from developing a nuclear capability,” Mr. Hardy said.


http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/apr/16/experts-china-likely-gave-n-korea-illegal-missile-/

 

[Grey Havoc]

http://allthingsnuclear.org/post/22396934690/questions-about-north-koreas-unha-3-failure

 

[Grey Havoc]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/9269360/North-Korea-upgrading-missile-launch-site.html

 

[Grey Havoc]

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000344495

June 29, 2013


The Yomiuri Shimbun



The government lifted Friday an order issued April 7 instructing the Self-Defense Forces to shoot down any North Korean ballistic missiles, government sources said.

As North Korea has been refraining from provocative statements and actions, and has shown a willingness to engage in dialogue, the government judged the immediate danger of it firing a ballistic missile has waned, the sources explained.

When North Korea deployed Musudan mobile intermediate-range ballistic missiles on the Sea of Japan coast this spring, the government responded by issuing the order on April 7.

Specifically, it instructed the SDF to prepare to intercept the missiles if necessary during a three-month period through July 7. However, the government did not officially announce the order, as such communication could expose Japan’s defense strategy. An announcement declaring the order lifted would not be made for the same reason, according to the sources.

With the revocation of the order, Aegis destroyers equipped with Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptors, which have been deployed in the Sea of Japan, and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) units of ground-based interceptor missiles, deployed across the nation, would be removed from the duty.

However, to prepare for contingencies, the government was considering maintaining some of the PAC-3 units deployed within the Defense Ministry to defend central Tokyo, the sources added.

 

[Grey Havoc]

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/07/10/national/asdf-fighters-scrambled-against-north-korea-aircraft-for-first-time-in-four-years/

ASDF fighters scrambled against North Korea aircraft for first time in four years

JIJI, Kyodo


Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets scrambled nine times against North Korean military aircraft between April and June, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

The scrambles were the first against North Korean aircraft since 2009, when the reclusive state launched a long-range ballistic missile.

According to the ministry, between April and June, ASDF fighters scrambled nine times when North Korean aircraft flew over the Sea of Japan. But there were no intrusions into Japanese airspace, the ministry added.

The ministry believes North Korea was using its military aircraft in an attempt to gather information after the SDF deployed Aegis destroyers in the Sea of Japan against possible missile launches by the hermit state.

According to the ministry’s Joint Staff, ASDF fighters scrambled a total of 115 times between April and June, including 69 times against Chinese aircraft, the highest on a country basis, and 31 times against Russian aircraft.

Although the figure for Chinese aircraft fell from 146 in the period between January and March, a ministry official said the incidence was still high.

Before China’s gripe over the Japan-held Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea worsened last September, most ASDF scrambles were against Russian aircraft.

 

[Grey Havoc]

U.S. to deploy mobile radar in Kyoto Prefecture to detect missile launches (Asahi Shimbun)

 

[sferrin]

U.S. to deploy mobile radar in Kyoto Prefecture to detect missile launches (Asahi Shimbun)

Interesting. That's a THAAD radar.

 

[TomS]

There are several extra TPY-2 radars deployed independently of THAAD batteries under the name Forward-Based X-Band (FBX) Radar. This appears to be one of those units.

http://www.raytheon.com/ourcompany/rtnwcm/groups/public/documents/datasheet/rtn_bus_ids_an_tpy2_pdf.pdf

 

[sferrin]

I didn't say they'd set up a THAAD battery. I said that was a THAAD radar. (I'd think converting one into the other wouldn't take much more than a few C-5 flights and a bit of time though.)

 

[TomS]

I took your comment to mean that there was some connection between this raar deplyment and the deployment of THAAD. Sorry if I misunderstood.

If they did send a THAAD battery somewhere, it would probably bring its own AN/TPY-2. In the FBX-T configuration, AN/TPY-2 is a search sensor for GMD. It seems to have a different software load than the THAAD radar and definitely has different C4 provisions. It would probably be feasible to plug that into a THAAD battery, but it would be a lot easier to use the battery's organic unit and let the FBX-T continue to support the longer-range GMD interceptors.

 

[Grey Havoc]

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000788584

Apparently the Japanese government is looking at deploying both THAAD and Aegis Ashore.


http://www.mda.mil/system/aegis_ashore.html


(First two images via DID, last image from the link above.)