Japan tracks and destroys a Scud-like missile in a milestone test
Dec 26, 2007 2:23 PM
On Dec. 17, 2007, the Japanese Aegis Destroyer, the JS Kongo, shot down a scud-like target missile similar in speed and size to those deployed by the North Korean military, off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii.
This first missile intercept by Japan demonstrated to the Japanese public that Japan has proven its capability to defend and protect their country from North Korean missiles.
What's more, this intercept sends a compelling message to other countries that seek their own self-defense from the threat of ballistic missiles to follow Japan's lead. Moreover, this demonstration may further dissuade and deter those countries and entities that choose to invest in ballistic missiles.
At with a slight breeze and scattered clouds in the northern area of Kauai at the Pacific Range Missile Facility (PRMF), a target missile was launched. Within a minute or so after the launch of the target in white cap seas off the coast of Hawaii, the crew of the JS Kongo, using Aegis sensors, located and tracked the target missile and downloaded that information to the Standard Missile (SM-3 Block 1A) located in the vertical launch tubes on the JS Kongo. Moments later, the defensive SM-3 Block 1A missile was fired from the ship and continued to receive updated information while in flight. Then, high above the Pacific Ocean in space, the Japanese SM-3 missile intercepted the target missile launched from Kauai using an internal heat-seeking sensor and from the sheer velocities of thousands of miles per hour, both the target missile and the defensive missile were completely destroyed.
This test marks the first time the United States Naval facility, the PRMF, was used and paid for by a foreign government for a ballistic missile test. Approximately $57 million was paid by the Japanese government for the test.
The United States was able to watch and independently use its missile defense sensors from multiple platforms on this Japanese owned test, which are part of the current U.S. missile defense system. Three of the U.S. sensors that were used included the Sea-Based X-Band Radar, the Aegis cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG -70) and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) stationed at the PRMF.
The Lake Erie, a Pearl Harbor-based U.S. guided-missile cruiser, tracked the missile target and fed data on it to a command center while simulating a shoot down of its own.
