Japan starts sharing ASDF warning intelligence with U.S.: report

Japan's defense ministry has been providing U.S. forces with intelligence gathered by its Air Self- Defense Force's early warning radar network since late April, Kyodo News said Sunday.

The ministry began permanent linking of the ASDF's intelligence gathering network with the headquarters of the U.S. 5th Air Force at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo before the two countries agreed to boost information-sharing for missile defense at a top security meeting in Washington on May 1, the report said, quoting unnamed sources.

The defense ministry has declined to comment on the report, saying it was an intelligence matter.

The ASDF system, known as the Base Air Defense Ground Environment (BADGE), integrates information gathered by 28 radar sites across Japan, as well as fighter squadrons and other air units, with the Air Defense Command in Tokyo serving as its core.

Temporary provision of BADGE intelligence to the U.S. forces has been conducted in the past during joint military exercises. The full-pledged information sharing was aimed to strengthen cooperation with the U.S. forces and boost Japan's air defense capabilities, the report said.

Source: Xinhua