Australia may build missile shield
Patrick Walters and Peter Alford
May 23, 2007
AUSTRALIA could develop its own missile defence system, with the nation poised to join the US and Japan in research on ballistic missiles. Washington is spearheading the initiative as part of its long-term plan to build a global missile defence shield in response to the nuclear ambitions of North Korea.
The Howard Government is considering the extent to which Australia will become involved in the planned missile defence system.
But a trilateral missile research agreement involving Australia, the US and Japan would further antagonise China, which already has concerns about the defence ties between Washington, Tokyo and Canberra.
There is a strong possibility the Royal Australian Navy's new air warfare destroyers, due to enter service in 2013, will eventually be equipped with SM-3 missiles, which are designed to intercept incoming missiles outside the earth's atmosphere.
Ballistic missile defence is one of the key issues being debated under the newly formed trilateral security dialogue taking place between the US, Japan and Australia.
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson declined to comment yesterday on Japanese media reports that a framework agreement on missile defence had been agreed between the three countries last month.
"Japan and the United States will work together with Australia to strengthen security in the Asia-Pacific region," a senior official at Japan's Defence Ministry told the Nikkei newspaper.
Japanese Defence Minister Fumio Kyuma claimed yesterday not to be aware of details, but appeared to confirm three-way discussions on missile defence were under way.
"I wasn't aware that the program had developed that far in concrete terms," he said when questioned about the Nikkei report.
Japan is implementing a two-stage missile shield program jointly with the US. It considers a ballistic missile attack from Pyongyang as its most pressing security threat.
Dr Nelson and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer will travel to Tokyo early next month for bilateral security talks at which the potential missile threat posed by North Korea will be discussed. The RAN's $7 billion warships will be equipped with the Aegis combat system and the SM-2 surface-to-air missile, and will have the potential to upgrade to the SM-3 ballistic missile defence system.
Japan's navy, the Maritime Self-Defence Force, is now commissioning its fifth Aegis destroyer and a sixth will be launched next March. The destroyers operate mainly in the Sea of Japan, usually in co-ordination with at least two US Aegis-equipped vessels.
The four operational Japanese destroyers are now fitted with SM-2 anti-aircraft missiles, but all six vessels are scheduled to be fitted with the
SM-3 ballistic missile interceptors by March2010.
Australia and the US are already co-operating far more closely on missile defence research under a 25-year agreement signed in 2004.
Dr Nelson said recently that the memorandum of understanding would allow Australia to explore practical ways of assisting the US to build a global missile defence system.
This would allow Australia to leverage US technology and ensure mutual development of specific technologies and approaches that would underpin the missile defences of both nations.
Canberra and Tokyo are now in the process of updating an agreement on defence co-operation following the signing of a new bilateral defence agreement by John Howard and his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, inMarch.
But any further move to co-operate on the ballistic missile threat is more likely to fall under the trilateral defence umbrella than bilateral arrangements, according to defence officials.
The threat posed by North Korea's missile program has strengthened US-Japan collaboration on missile defence, with Tokyo acquiring both sea-based SM-3 missiles as well as Patriot land-based systems.
Japan recently installed its first Patriot Advanced Capability-3 battery at an airbase north of Tokyo. The US Air Force has stationed the surface-to-air missiles at its Futenma base on Okinawa, and batteries will ultimately be installed in the capital.
However, the close co-operation between the US and Japan has been disrupted by Tokyo's failure so far to resolve the question of whether its ballistic missile defence weapons can be used against missiles aimed at US territory.
US military officials are also growing concerned about Japanese security breaches.
Mr Kyuma refused to comment on a reported investigation by Japanese security police and the MSDF into the leak of information about the SM-3 program. US officials are believed to have strongly criticised MSDF security when Mr Kyuma visited Washington on April 30.
