TOKYO--Japan is worried the United States has so far declined to arm it with a powerful new radar, arguing the decision makes the U.S. missile defence system it plans to install much less capable of countering a growing North Korean threat, three sources said.
Japan wants to have a land-based version of the Aegis ballistic missile defence (BMD) system operational by 2023 as a new layer of defence to help counter North Korea's missile advances.
Yet, without the new powerful radar, known as Spy-6, Japan will have to field the system with existing radar technology that has less range than a new generation of BMD interceptor missiles, the sources who have knowledge of the discussion told Reuters. That could mean that while the interceptor has enough range to strike a missile lofted high into space, the targeting radar may not be able to detect the threat until it is much closer.
Japanese officials have witnessed a demonstration of Spy-6 technology, which boosts the range of BMD radars dozens of times, but efforts to secure the equipment from their ally have come to naught. "So far all we have got to do is smell the eel," said one of the officials, referring to a savory fried eel dish popular in Japan.
The military threat to Japan deepened on Tuesday when Pyongyang fired an intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) over Japan's northern Hokkaido island. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe slammed the action as "reckless" and "unprecedented."
Japan's Defence Ministry and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Washington's reluctance to share the radar may make Tokyo feel more vulnerable to North Korean attack and blunt U.S. efforts to assure its Japan about its commitment to defend its East Asian ally to as tensions in the region intensify. The new U.S. Ambassador to Japan, William Hagerty, dubbed their security partnership as the "greatest on earth" in his first meeting with Abe on Aug 18.
The U.S.'s top general, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford described that alliance as "ironclad" in talks with the Chief of Staff of Japan's Self Defence Forces, Admiral Katsutoshi Kawano the same day.
