Japan Plans First Spy Plane to Watch North Korea

[Bluezoo]

Japan Plans First Spy Plane to Watch North Korea

Japan plans to introduce unmanned spy aircraft to watch military bases in North Korea or other countries, letting Tokyo gather such intelligence on its own for the first time, a report said July 26.

The Defense Agency will tighten its watch on North Korea, which fired a missile over Japan in 1998, regardless of the outcome of multilateral talks that began July 26 in China to end Pyongyang’s nuclear drive, the Tokyo Shimbun said.

The agency will seek funds on the project for the fiscal year beginning in April 2006, the newspaper said, without citing sources.

The agency would not confirm the report. A spokesman said only that the agency was “considering” plans for the next fiscal year.

The report said the agency wanted to have surveillance aircraft that would endure a long flight at an altitude of 20 kilometers (12 miles), a height unreachable by ground-to-air missiles.

The aircraft could watch missile bases in inland North Korea and alert Japanese troops if it sees any sign of a missile launch with its infra-red sensors, it said.

The plane, to be domestically developed or imported from the United States, would also be able to take pictures of military facilities in other countries and chase spy ships, it said.

Japan would thus have its own “eyes” to watch other nations’ military activity for the first time since the end of World War II when the nation became officially pacifist, the newspaper said.

Tokyo can already eavesdrop on military communications, but the lack of a greater espionage network has led to concern that Japanese policymakers are too dependent on U.S. intelligence.

A weekend report by the Yomiuri Shimbun said Japan wants to put a missile shield it is developing with the United States in place in early 2006, one year earlier than planned, due to perceived threats from North Korea and China.
For the full text, go to:

http://defensenews.com/story.php?F=996083&C=asiapac

[ocean]

Also



Nuclear Talks Open As N.Korea Boycott Ends

BEIJING - Six-party nuclear disarmament talks opened Tuesday after a 13-month boycott by North Korea, and the communist nation's envoy said his country was ready to work on eliminating atomic weapons from the Korean Peninsula.

The United States, in turn, reassured the North that it has no intention of invading to end the standoff.

"The fundamental thing is to make real progress in realizing the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan said at the opening session of the talks in Beijing.

"This requires very firm political will and a strategic decision of the parties concerned that have interests in ending the threat of nuclear war," he said. "We are fully ready and prepared for that."

In the past, North Korea has said denuclearization of the peninsula also includes removing alleged U.S. nuclear weapons from South Korea. Both Washington and Seoul have denied any such weapons are present.

The talks Tuesday are the fourth such six-nation negotiations, which also include China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States. The North had boycotted the talks because of what it called "hostile" U.S. policies.

North Korea agreed to return to the talks following a meeting earlier this month between Kim and the main U.S. envoy, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, who assured the North that Washington recognized its sovereignty.

On Tuesday, Hill repeated those pledges.

"We view (North Korea's) sovereignty as a matter of fact. The United States has absolutely no intention to invade or attack" North Korea, Hill said in his opening remarks.

Unlike the previous rounds, which were scheduled for several days, no end date has been set for this week's resumed negotiations.

Hill said Tuesday his delegation would remain in Beijing "so long as we are making progress in these talks." He has previously said he doesn't expect this round to be the last of the six-nation talks.

"We do not have the option of walking away from this problem," he said.

Hill also said the U.S. would address the North's security and energy concerns after the nuclear issue is resolved.

"Nuclear weapons will not make (North Korea) more secure," he said. "And in fact, on the contrary, nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula will only increase tension in the region."

In a nod to Pyongyang, Hill said if North Korea "permanently, fully and verifiably" dismantles its nuclear programs, the U.S. and other countries would offer measures "consistent with the principle of 'words for words and actions for actions.'" That principle was contained in a statement at the end of the last round of talks in June 2004 and been repeatedly invoked by North Korea as one of its demands.

The talks are the first in which Hill is representing Washington, and he is believed to have more room for negotiating than his predecessor, James Kelly. In a departure from previous meetings, Hill met his North Korean counterpart on Monday ahead of the official opening of the talks.

The U.S. and North Korea held another meeting later Tuesday after the talks opened, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said. No details of their discussion were released.

The latest nuclear standoff with North Korea erupted in late 2002, when U.S. officials accused the communist nation of running a secret uranium enrichment program.

Since then, the North has pulled out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and taken steps that would allow it to harvest more radioactive materials for atomic bombs. In February, the North publicly claimed it had nuclear weapons, but it hasn't performed any known tests that would confirm it can make them.

At the talks' opening, South Korea's envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon, repeated Tuesday his nation's offer of massive electricity aid to the North if it agrees to disarm.

In Seoul, South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young told a meeting of the ruling Uri party that discussions on details of the electricity offer to the North could begin as soon as Pyongyang agrees to abandon nuclear weapons. However, he conceded North Korea would likely make a counterproposal to Seoul's offer — which experts point out would effectively place control of the North's power supply in its capitalist rival's hands.

North Korea has demanded aid and security guarantees from Washington in exchange for giving up its nuclear weapons. The United States says it won't offer concessions until North Korea's nuclear weapons program is verifiably dismantled.

Another issue that could complicate the arms talks is Japan's concerns about its citizens abducted by the North.

South Korea's main delegate Song appeared to issue a warning Tuesday to Japan not to derail the negotiations, saying it "would definitely not be desirable to take up issues that would disintegrate the focus of the talks."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050726/ap_on_re_as/koreas_nuclear_13;_ylt=Ap4g_hAZep1w.ZMKBk8G_bGCscEA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

It seems Japan feels being left alone.

[joe mama]

Why bother? If Kim Jong Il Long Dong Wong tries anything with Japan, won't Godzilla show up to defend them?

[duck]

I bet South Korea will help the North in every way it can to shoot down any Japanese drones. There is no way the ROK government could allow Japanese military planes, unmanned or otherwise, in hostile action over any part of Korea.

[futurepilot2004]

What a stupid thing for Japan to announce when everyone is trying to get Noth Korea back to the table. This will make them, at best, pissed off or more likely to withdraw from talks.

[joshfox0]

personaly i can't blame japan! its a bit of a supid move with the current talks but in all honesty north korea won't give up its weapons because Kim wants to have his dream of being a playa

[Turhapuro]

What a stupid thing for Japan to announce when everyone is trying to get Noth Korea back to the table. This will make them, at best, pissed off or more likely to withdraw from talks.
Probably not. If they withdraw, they use it as excuse.

[PeterG]

I bet South Korea will help the North in every way it can to shoot down any Japanese drones. There is no way the ROK government could allow Japanese military planes, unmanned or otherwise, in hostile action over any part of Korea.

They don't have to overfly korean airspace.They can stay outside their border and use a variety of sensors to 'look inside'.

[Pille1234]

I bet South Korea will help the North in every way it can to shoot down any Japanese drones. There is no way the ROK government could allow Japanese military planes, unmanned or otherwise, in hostile action over any part of Korea.
What has South Korea to do with Japanese spy drones over NK?

[ComradeStalin]

Why dont tha japs just use a Satellite. We could sell em one. A satellite is alot more effecient than a spyplane, why do ya think we (US) scrapped our spyplanes for satellites. Oh yeah I've neva heard of a satellite being shot down.

[UoUo]

Yeah that what i was thinking.

What countries in the world use today spy Satellite's?

[Flagg]

Why dont tha japs just use a Satellite. We could sell em one. A satellite is alot more effecient than a spyplane,

How so?

It's my understanding that reconnaissance aircraft like the U2, and long range/duration UAVs like Predator, and in particular, Global Hawk would be able to provide a more cost effective surveillance platform for the Japanese than a satellite.

Satellites are expensive to design, develop, manufacture, and launch, UAVS are relatively inexpensive by comparison.

Satellites cannot be realistically upgraded or repaired, UAVs can.

Satellites orbits are relatively easy to determine and defend against, UAV orbit tracks can be chopped and changed easily.

Surveilling a relatively small peninsula like Korea where sidelooking sensors can penetrate at an oblique angle eliminates the NEED for satellite surveillance, unlike say a very large land mass like the former Soviet Union where UAVs couldn't penetrate without violating national borders.


why do ya think we (US) scrapped our spyplanes for satellites. Oh yeah I've neva heard of a satellite being shot down.

Satellites are far from perfect.

As mentioned they can be countered if their orbit tracks are known(not too tough to figure out). Retasking a satellite to adjust it's orbit track is an expensive endeavour as a satellite carries a limited amount of propellant.

[jirishpride707]

Heck, why not just use Google Earth :bash:

J/K

[Chuckie]

Maybe OMEGA7 can shed some light on this....

[Miles.]

Maybe OMEGA7 can shed some light on this....

I second the motion.

[joe mama]

NewsFlash - Tokyo - The Japanese Defense Forces today announced that they will be inserting a camera into the anus of supersonic prehistoric monster Rodan and will have him perform overflights of North Korea. When reached for comment, Godzilla was quoted as saying:
http://www.godzillatemple.com/hidden/zilla4.wav.

[gc]

Heck, why not just use Google Earth :bash:

J/K

I guess because Japan not only wants Imagery intelligence, but also wants Sigint, Elint and UAV can even test air samples to determine what the hell N. Korea is up to underground. All underground bunkers need ventilation systems and it may reveal a bit of what they are doing inside. Furthermore, if you have 4 drones, each loitering for 20 hrs, it can keep an eye on a large area without interruption for as long as u want. N. Korea can hide from satellites by showing themselves only when the satellite is not overhead. ;)

[username]

Why bother? If Kim Jong Il Long Dong Wong tries anything with Japan, won't Godzilla show up to defend them?

Don't forget Gamera
http://www.cinegeek.com/images/dvd/dvd_2005/gamara_boxset/Gamera%201.jpg