One of only four in the world, the Joint Tactical Ground Station sits in a field of snow behind the high fences of this remote base in northern Japan like a windowless trailer home with a few good satellite dishes out back. It’s not impressive. But this is the front line. In a multibillion-dollar experiment, Japan and the US are erecting the world’s most complex ballistic missile defense shield, a project that is changing the security balance in Asia and has deep implications for Washington’s efforts to pursue a similar strategy in Europe, where the idea has been stalled by the lack of willing partners. The station here is the newest piece in the shield.“Japan is one of our strongest allies in the ballistic missile defense arena,” said Brig Gen John E Seward, the deputy commanding general of operations for the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command. In a recent mock-up of how it would work, US military satellites detect a flash of heat from a missile range in North Korea, and within seconds computers plot a rough trajectory across the Sea of Japan that ends in an oval splash-zone outlined in red near Japan’s main island.In a real-world crisis, the next 10 or 15 minutes could be the beginning of an all-out shooting war. Millions could die. Or, two missiles could collide in mid-air over the ocean. Washington and Tokyo are banking on the idea that early warning of the kind provided by the Joint Tactical Ground Station, or JTAG, and another state-of-the-art “X-band” radar station recently deployed nearby will lead to the latter. They are pouring a huge amount of resources — the US Missile Defense Agency is seeking an $8 billion budget this year — into establishing a credible warning and response network. Though Washington’s focus, and world attention, has shifted toward Iran, N Korea has over the past several years made major strides in its development of both nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them to the shores of other countries.
