TOKYO, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Japan deployed its first ground-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) interceptor system at an air force base in Saitama prefecture on Friday, Kyodo News said.

    The installation of two PAC-3 launchers at the Air Self-DefenseForce's Iruma base north of Tokyo, marks the launch of Japan's own ballistic missile defense initiative, it said.

    Each PAC-3 launcher can load up to 16 missiles and covers a radius of several dozen kilometers. The launcher is mobile and maybe relocated to other SDF facilities, the report said.

    The deployment at the Iruma base, around one year ahead of schedule, will enable Japan's Self-Defense Forces to intercept ballistic missiles in areas centering on Tokyo. In October 2006, the United States have deployed the PAC-3 system at the U.S. Kadena Air Base in southern Japan's Okinawa.

    The missile defense system is two-phased, in which an incoming ballistic missile is dealt with by first firing Standard Missile-3interceptors from Aegis ships at sea when the missile is still outside the atmosphere, and if that fails, firing a PAC-3 from the ground.

    Tokyo also plans to install its first Standard Missile-3 interceptors on one Aegis ship by the end of 2007.

    Japan plans to have a total of 30 PAC-3 launchers in 10 places, including at bases in Shizuoka, Gifu and Fukuoka prefectures, and four SM-3-equipped Aegis ships by fiscal 2010. About 580 billion yen (4.92 billion U.S. dollars) has been earmarked in the national budget for missile-defense related costs, the report said.