Korea vs. Japan.

This is coolbert:

The order has been given, this is no longer speculation.

That North Korean missile, if the flight path endangers Japanese territory or territorial waters, or if the missile goes awry during flight, the instructions, the commands - - HAVE BEEN GIVEN - - TO SHOOT THE THING DOWN!!

Thanks to the Yomiuri Shimbun.

"Interception order issued / SDF to shoot down DPRK missile if it threatens Japan's territory"

"Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada ordered the Self-Defense Forces on Friday to take measures to intercept a North Korean missile if it looks set to come down on Japan or Japan's territorial waters after its expected launch in early April, government officials said."

"North Korea said the launch would occur sometime between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. between April 4 and 8."

An interception and shoot down, if needed, will be a two-pronged attack. First sea-borne interceptors will fire, aiming at the North Korean missile during the boost phase of launch. If the salvo from the sea-borne platforms does not succeed, an advanced version of the Patriot missile, land-based, will attempt intercept at a lower [?] altitude. Those Patriots are being moved into position, right now, as we speak!!

"Under the missile defense system, the Maritime Self-Defense Force initially launches a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor missile to destroy the missile in space. If the SM-3 fails to intercept the missile, a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) interceptor missile is launched from the ground to intercept the missile at an altitude above 10 kilometers."

Japanese warships to be involved in the operation include:

"Chokai and Kongo, carry SM-3 interceptor missiles."

"The Kongō class of guided missile destroyers . . . serves as the core ship of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF)'s Escort Flotillas."

"The ministry also will deploy another Aegis-equipped destroyer, Kirishima [to mid-Pacific to monitor the launch and splashdown if and when the missile is sent aloft!!]"

"JDS Kirishima (DDG-174) is a Kongō class guided missile destroyer in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF)."

"Kirishima is under going modification at Nagasaki to add the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMD) capability to its weapons suite."

Kongo and Kirishima. Two names of warships from the far distant past now. World War Two [WW2] vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy [IJN]. Battleships, both sunk in combat with U.S. forces during WW2.

"Kongō (金剛, "vajra" or "indestructible") was the Imperial Japanese Navy's first super-dreadnought type battle cruiser, and the name-ship of her class . . . She was upgraded to a battleship rating in the 1930s and served in several major naval operations during World War II before being sunk by enemy action in 1944."

"Kirishima (霧島 ?) was the Imperial Japanese Navy's fourth Kongō -class battle cruiser."

"From 1933 to 1934, she [Kirishima] was reconstructed at Kure, Japan, emerging from her reconstruction as a 'fast battleship'"

New warships bearing the same name, but now having a mission never even envisioned by those old time sailors manning the namesakes from so long ago now.

GOOD HUNTING JAPAN!!

coolbert.