Japan has had an ABM (Anti-Ballistic Missile) program going since 1998. Work in this area has speeded up as it became clear that North Korea was not backing off on it's nuclear and long range missile research program. The U.S. has allocated $54 million next year to support tests of Japanese ABM technology. The U.S. is the only nation with facilities (in the Pacific) for full scale testing of ABM systems.
