National Missile Programs

[Bert]

I read these off todays info briefs from www.stratfor.com:

1252 GMT - JAPAN - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced on
Dec. 4 that he plans to install a national missile defense system to protect
Japan from ballistic missiles launched from North Korea.

1229 GMT - AUSTRALIA - Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer
announced on Dec. 4 that his country would join U.S. plans to establish a
national missile defense system. Defense Minister Robert Hill said, "We
think that we can play a part, obviously a small part in terms of the
massive overall program. We think that with the proliferation of long-range
missiles and trends toward proliferation of mass-destruction warheads, it is
a sensible decision for Australia to take." Both ministers ruled out
permanent bases on Australia soil, but suggested that there could be a role
for the navy. The most recent U.S. defense budget allots $9 billion for the
program.

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

Too bad those things don‘t work.

 

[Enzo]

How can they be serious? Japan can‘t even launch rockets as they‘ve recently demonstrated in spectacular fashion. the Aussies, I don‘t know what they‘ve got to gain, are they worried about India or China? North Korea? Or just trying to get some miltary contracts from the Yanks and solidify a working relationship with them?

Bring back the cold war eh boys, good for business no?

 

[Bert]

I guess geo-politics are developing and evolving.
Regions of the world are competitive, self-serving, or openly hostile. I‘m not saying any particular region is in the right or wrong, but the American missile initiatives is one way of dealing with the fear of missle threats. Once you have missles, they‘re relatively inexpensive. The world of today is not the world
of 5, 10, 15, or 200 years from now.

In the case of Japan, they have fear of shipping problems in sea lanes, China‘s emerging economy, a possible military threat from North Korea. The military threat is real, it is just the question of the North Korean will or motivation to use it.

What scares China is that Japan, if it really really wanted to, could have build a nuclear weapons program and have active systems within 6 months. China deosn‘t want that and neither does Japan. Yet geo-politics evolve.

Australia fears and emerging China and crime or military action on shipping on the high seas too. The instability of Indonesia and attacks by terrorist groups are real possibilities. Since Australia and the US fear similar things, then of course they should co-operate. Missile systems offers a degree of security against major attacks.
Systems deployed today take years to integrate and its not known what the world will be like in a few years. Hardware, software models, guidance, command and control systems, and deployable sites have been improving so to say that these systems can never work is much too soon to say. The patriot missle system deployed in Iraq now, though definitely not a stable platform, is significantly better and more integrated than systems of the past.