The Asia Times (Thailand)
12 February 2017
- RSIS
- Media Mentions
- The U.S. should Build a Pan-Asian Missile Shield
The U.S. should Build a Pan-Asian Missile Shield
Missile defense has become a reality in the Asia-Pacific. In December 2007, Japan became the first country in the region to operationally test a missile defense system by shooting down a ballistic missile in flight. Ten years later, South Korea has tentatively agreed to accept the deployment of US-operated Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD for short. Given North Korea’s recent test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile — and possibly a new intercontinental ballistic missile — there perhaps has never been a better time to consider what only a few years ago would have been infeasible technologically and politically: a joint defense against missile attacks stretching from Japan to Australia.
… Richard A. Bitzinger is a Senior Fellow and Coordinator of the Military Transformations Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
IDSS / Online
Last updated on 16/02/2017
