On August 4, the Eastern Theater successfully launched long-range fire and conventional missile fire in the predetermined sea area. Subsequently, the Japanese Ministry of Defense jumped out and announced that it had monitored a total of 9 ballistic missiles launched by the People's Liberation Army, launched from Zhejiang, Fujian and inland areas, of which 5 fell into Japan's so-called "exclusive economic zone", and some missiles were implemented through the island, and Japan was able to monitor the trajectory of the ballistic missile mainly because of a J/FPS-5 anti-missile warning radar installed in the Hezuo-Zagaku Branch Tun base in Okinawa.
As early as the mid-1990s, Japan decided to start studying the deployment of a national missile defense system. In 1999, when North Korea's Taepodong-1 missile flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean, Japan began deploying strategic early warning radars, seeking U.S. help in deploying the Patriot PAC-2/3 air defense system. On the other hand, it relies on its own technical strength to develop early warning radar, first in 1995 successfully developed the J/FPS-3 radar, the biggest problem of its early type is that the detection of ballistic missiles is poor performance, and when detecting missiles can not search for air targets. This problem was later upgraded to the J/FPS-3Kai level. Its enhanced version is called J/FPS-3UG, all J/FPS-3 radars in 2009 are connected to the JADGE (Japan Aerospace Defense Ground Environment) automated air defense/missile defense control system, J/FPS-3ME radar is used for export, and on March 4, 2020, it has been confirmed to export 3 units to the Philippines at a sky-high price of $550 million. The radar is actually installed on the concrete base in the radome with a three-coordinate active phased array radar, the detection distance of 100 meters high target is 178 kilometers, the detection distance of 1000 meters high target is 267 kilometers, and the detection distance of 10000 meters high target is 548 kilometers, and the detection information is transmitted in real time through the underground optical cable, and Japan is also equipped with J/FPS-4 radar.
In 1999, the Japan Defense and Aviation Development Experimental Group in the Institute of Technology Research and Development of the Ministry of Defense began to develop the J/FPS-5 air defense alert radar. In 2004, the J/FPS-5 prototype radar was tested at a test site in the northeast of Asahi City, Chiba Prefecture, and continued until 2007, when the mass-produced radar was manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric, and in 2006, the Japanese cabinet approved a $800 million allocation for the construction of four missile early warning radars, each costing about 18 billion yen. The first radar was commissioned in 2008 at the Shimokoshikajima Branch Inuyasha Station in Kagoshima Prefecture. The second Sado Branch Base, built at the top of Shinen Park, 1,040 meters above sea level in Niigata Prefecture, was commissioned at the end of 2009, and both radars are prototypes, and it is said that both were upgraded. In 2010, the J/FPS-5B radar was installed at the 42nd Warning Group Dakōbuntun Base at Bushokusan, the highest peak of Mt. Zoho on the Shimohoku Peninsula in Aomori Prefecture, at the northern tip of Honshu Island, and in February 2012, the J/FPS-5С radar was put into service at the Yasatake Bunkun Base (56th Alert Team) in southern Okinawa. Due to the high price, the Japanese could not afford to build it themselves, so they had the J/FPS-7 radar.
Early type
The J/FPS-5 anti-aircraft warning radar is installed in a large cut-tip triangular structure building with a height of 34 meters, with a total of 7 floors, and can be rotated using the lower circular guide rail. The active phased array radar array is mounted on three-sided buildings, including a curved radar radome with a diameter of about 18 meters and two 12 meters in diameter, which is called turtle shell radar because of its irregular appearance of joints resembling turtle shells, also known as Gamera radar, named after the turtle-like monster Carmela in the Showa Carmela series of Japanese special-action films. Radars with an 18-meter array are S-band radars that are mainly used for ballistic missile/aircraft tracking and generally face the direction of the threat. The 12-meter array radar is an L-band radar for aircraft/cruise missile tracking and is mainly used to supplement the detection range. The detection of general ballistic missile targets is carried out in the frequency range of 1-1.5GHz, and the aircraft is carried out in the frequency range of 2-3GHz. The radar uses a modular and self-diagnostic design and can also receive radar waves emitted by adjacent radars in dual-base mode to operate in parallel.
On April 5, 2009, Japan used J/FPS-5 radar for the first time to conduct actual detection of a Galaxy-2 rocket launched from North Korea. The maximum tracking range is 2100 km. The radar detects rocket launches in time and determines the rocket trajectory based on the data received. Japan claims that it can also track ballistic missiles launched by Russian strategic nuclear submarines at polar latitudes, with a usable detection range of 1200-1800 kilometers (800 kilometers). After all, the detection range of this radar is affected by many factors, the higher the altitude, the farther the detection, so the number of missiles announced by the Japanese side is different from the actual number, which may exceed its detection range.
The Ywazatake Radar Station (127°42′21"E, 26°07′31"N) is part of the 56th Alert Group of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, about 624 km from Taipei, the mainland island of Taiwan, and about 772-790 km from the southeast coast of the mainland. Therefore, we often detect our targets, but our general intercontinental missile tests are inland, and the J/FPS-5 radar is a bit difficult to detect. It can be seen that Japan's J/FPS-5 radar can indeed play a strong detection role, but its detection distance is still at the level of about 2010, and because the J/FPS-5 radar is too expensive, it has been bidding for new radars by the Air Self-Defense Force since 2007 to replace the J/FPS-3, and finally in 2012, the J/FPS-7 radar developed by the Japanese electric company NEC was selected. This radar is less expensive, has 3 active phased array antennas, is specially designed for stealth fighters (J-20 stealth fighters) and supersonic cruise missiles, has a longer detection range, strong search and tracking capabilities, mainly deployed in southwest Japan, and is also a great threat to us. Of course, we also have similar radars, which are more powerful, so it's a big deal to look at it!