( dpa )- Japan has set up its third Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor system near Tokyo on Wednesday to complete a missile shield.
The third PAC 3 is deployed at an Air Self- Defence Force base in Kanagawa prefecture, following the one installed in March in Saitama and another in November in Chiba. The three provinces surround metropolitan Tokyo.
The installment of three interceptor systems is intended to "enforce missile defence in an area where the political and business nerve centres are located," according to the Defence Ministry.
Japan plans to equip 11 bases across the country with the advanced missile defence system by March 2011.
Japan has a two-phased missile defence system, with Standard Missile-3 interceptors from Aegis ships at sea shooting down an incoming ballistic missile outside the atmosphere and the PAC-3 on the ground.