Japan To Display Missiles as Show Of Force
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
TOKYO — Japan is to deploy Patriot missile batteries on the streets of Tokyo in a security drill designed to prove that it is capable of defending itself from any threat posed by North Korea or China. Convoys carrying troops and Patriot Advanced Capacity-3 missiles and launcher units will leave the Air Self-Defense Force’s base at Iruma, north of Tokyo, in the next few weeks and disperse to 10 locations throughout the Japanese capital.
They will be used to determine the speed at which the systems can be brought to operational readiness and any glitches that may hamper their effectiveness. Potential problems include maintaining communications between the individual launch units and military headquarters.
