to Friday, the Air Self-Defense Force deployed Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) surface-to-air missile systems to Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture, in response to allegations that North Korea intends to launch what it describes as a “military reconnaissance satellite.”
It was stated that North Korea will perform a launch between the 31st of May and the 11th of June. Wednesday saw the failure of a launch that was carried out by North Korea, but Pyongyang has stated that it intends to carry out another launch.
Before the beginning of the era, the Self-Defense Force (SDF) had intended to deploy the PAC-3 units on Ishigaki Island, but they were unable to do so due of the severe winds caused by an impending typhoon.
The Japanese Air Self-Defense Force deploys PAC-3 missiles on Ishigaki Island.
Using the PAC-3 units and destroyers equipped with the Aegis system, the Self-Defense Force (SDF) will make an effort to intercept any missile fired from North Korea that lands within Japanese territory.
On Friday afternoon, when the weather was more favorable, vehicles that were outfitted with missile launchers and other equipment arrived to a site that was located on reclaimed ground close to Ishigaki Port.
Yoshitaka Nakayama, the mayor of Ishigaki, stated that it was beneficial that the deployment was carried out so fast after the typhoon had passed through. In the future, we shall carry on with our practice of accepting deployments of PAC-3 troops.
