The Japan Times:
An anti-missile battery was deployed Tuesday to Hakodate, Hokkaido, placing it near the flight paths of ballistic missiles recently launched by North Korea.
The battery was moved to a Ground Self-Defense Force camp in the city from an Air Self-Defense Force base about 70 km away, apparently because the interceptors only cover a range of roughly several dozen kilometers.
The Patriot Advanced Capability-3 surface-to-air interceptors are designed to shoot down ballistic missiles before they land and are there to back up Japan’s sea-based Standard Missile-3 systems if they fail to intercept their targets in outer space.
The Defense Ministry moved PAC-3 batteries to Hiroshima and three other prefectures in western Japan in August after North Korea threatened to launch ballistic missiles over the region toward the U.S. territory of Guam…
