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| Japanese Patriot (PAC-3) Missile Launcher |
TOKYO, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) will hold drills deploying missile interceptors at three U.S. military bases here to prepare for any contingencies stemming from heightened tensions in the Korean Peninsula, Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said Friday.
"The drills will contribute to further strengthening the Japan-U.S. alliance," Onodera told a press briefing on the matter.
"The drills will contribute to further strengthening the Japan-U.S. alliance," Onodera told a press briefing on the matter.
The Defense Ministry said the exercises will take place at the U.S. Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo and at the Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture in Japan's southwest, next Tuesday.
On Sept. 7, similar drills will be held at the Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan, the ministry also said.
Such drills would mark the first time that exercises deploying missile interceptors have been held at U.S. bases in Japan, the Def Ministry said.
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