Japan is considering introducing a new type of missile defense system to counter airborne attacks, notably from North Korea, a local newspaper said Sunday.
Japan has two types of defense against airborne attacks – the warship-installed Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) and Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3), a surface-to-air missile that tracks and hits incoming targets. It plans to complete the shield by early 2011, deploying the PAC-3 missiles at 11 bases and setting up SM-3 missiles on several warships. But the two systems still will not be enough to cover the nation’s territory completely, the Mainichi daily said, without citing sources.

The Japanese defense ministry is considering introducing another surface-to-air missile, the US-developed Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, in addition to SM-3 and PAC-3, the newspaper said.

While the PAC-3 has a range of about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles), a THAAD interceptor can cover more than 100 kilometers, making it possible to defend the entire nation if deployed at three to four bases, the report said.

Washington and Tokyo have been working jointly to install a shield against attacks from North Korea, which fired a missile over Japan’s main island in 1998 and tested an atom bomb in 2006.