Australia considers missile defences

May 23, 2007, 2:07 GMT

Sydney - Australia could develop its own missile defence system, with the nation poised to join the United States and Japan in research on anti-ballistic missiles.

Washington is spearheading the initiative as part of its long-term plan to build a global missile-defence shield in response to the nuclear ambitions of North Korea, the Australian newspaper reported Wednesday.

The Howard government is considering the extent to which Australia will become involved in the planned missile-defence system.

But a trilateral missile research agreement involving Australia, the US and Japan would further antagonize China, which already has concerns about defence ties between Washington, Tokyo and Canberra, the newspaper said.

There is a strong possibility that the Royal Australian Navy's new air warfare destroyers, due to enter service in 2013, will eventually be equipped with SM-3 missiles, which are designed to intercept incoming missiles from outside the earth's atmosphere.

Ballistic-missile defence is one of the key issues being debated under the newly formed trilateral security dialogue taking place between the US, Japan and Australia.

Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson declined to comment Tuesday on Japanese media reports that a framework agreement on missile defence had been agreed last month between the three countries.

'Japan and the United States will work together with Australia to strengthen security in the Asia-Pacific region,' a senior official at the Japanese Defence Ministry told the Nikkei newspaper.

Japanese Defence Minister Fumio Kyuma claimed Tuesday not to be aware of details but appeared to confirm that three-way discussions on missile defence were underway. When questioned about the Nikkei report, he said: 'I wasn't aware that the programme had developed that far in concrete terms.'

Japan is implementing a two-stage missile shield programme jointly with the US. Tokyo considers a ballistic-missile attack from Pyongyang as its most pressing security threat.

Nelson and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer will travel early next month to Tokyo for security talks with the Japanese officials, with the potential missile threat posed by North Korea on the agenda.