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Japan on Friday deployed its first ballistic missile defence system managed by its own military amid concerns over North Korea, which tested missiles and an atom bomb last year.
The United States last year installed Japan's first anti-missile system, but the interceptors deployed Friday were the first installed by Japan on its own.
Two Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) surface-to-air interceptors were installed early Friday at Japan's Iruma air force base north of Tokyo, a defence ministry spokesman said.
The ministry plans to deploy the US-developed PAC-3s, which can cover a 20-kilometre (12-mile) radius, at a total of 11 bases in eastern and western Japan by March 2011.
The ministry deployed the launchers, designed to protect the capital Tokyo, earlier than initially scheduled in response to North Korea's launch of missiles in July and its nuclear test in October.
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“We had initially planned to complete the deployment by March next year, but we accelerated the plan following North Korea's missile launch,” the spokesman said.
It was Japan's first deployment of a ballistic missile interceptor since the nation became officially pacifist following its defeat in World War II.
The United States separately deployed its own ballistic missile system last year on Japan's southern island of Okinawa, raising protests among some local leaders opposed to the US troop presence.
Japan and the United States started working on a more advanced missile shield after North Korea in 1998 fired a missile over Japan's main island.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has championed a greater military role for Japan, agreed to step up work on missile defence when he met with US President George W. Bush in November, their first meeting since Abe took office.
Last week, the Japanese government approved emergency response guidelines that will allow the armed forces to fire interceptor missiles without the prime minister's prior approval.
The new guidelines will allow the defence minister to order the interception of incoming ballistic missiles.
