The aim of Keen Edge is to coordinate communication and command-and-information flow between U.S. Forces in Japan and the island country's military, it said.

Neighboring countries have each been given a color: Japan is blue, the United States is green, North Korea is purple, Russia is red and South Korea is the color of tea, the daily said.

The war games include a simulation where the United States finds North Korea getting ready to fire a ballistic missile, whereupon the allies quickly move to defend the borders while U.S. Navy and Air Forces stationed in Japan -- along with the Japanese Maritime Defense Forces -- step up surveillance in the East Sea with Aegis ships and other vessels. One scenario provides for Japan's air forces to evacuate Japanese nationals from Korea as tensions on the peninsula escalate, the South Korean enwspaper Chosun Ilbo reported Tuesday.

Another simulation prepares for Chinese warships and submarines massing in the East China Sea while a group of apparent civilians make illegal landfall on an uninhabited island disputed by China and Japan before the Chinese vessels invade Japanese territorial waters nearby. That is met by intensified patrols from Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force and mobilization of warships and aircraft, the Chosun Ilbo said.

Meanwhile, ground forces stationed in Kyushu prepare to counter an attack from Chinese forces, while the Air Self-Defense Force is given orders to move F15 fighters from the mainland to Naha Air Force base on Okinawa and Miyagozima Airport. The scenario is also designed to hone communication among the Prime Minister's Office, the Coast Guard and police.

In Tokyo's 2005 strategic plans, China and North Korea are designated "countries threatening Japan's safety," and while chances of an invasion from China are rated "low," an invasion from North Korea is considered "an existing possibility."

Japan's Defense Agency and Self-Defense Force are wary of designating China a clear and present danger out of concern for diplomatic ties. On Feb. 15, a Japanese air force officer earned himself a reprimand by referring to China as an "intimidating presence for the Self-Defense Force of Okinawa," the Chosun Ilbo said.

However, the Sankei Shimbun said while the Japanese government does not officially consider Beijing a threat, the drills are predicated on both China and its ally North Korea being the enemy. However, they no longer include Russia, considered enemy No. 1 throughout the Cold War years. Tokyo and the Self-Defense Force refuse to confirm any reports about the exercises, the daily said.

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MDA chooses Kyma for for new radar projects

The Missile Defense Agency has selected GaN crystal specialist Kyma Technologies for two new projects to further develop the wide-bandgap material, CompoundSemiconductor.net reported Tuesday.

Kyma Technologies, the Raleigh, N.C., company that specializes in native GaN substrates, has won funding under two new projects sponsored by the MDA, the report said. Each of the Phase 1 MDA programs is looking at the development of GaN materials and devices for next-generation military radar systems, including X-band applications, it said.

Kyma plans to increase GaN substrate sizes and improve the material quality of its semi-insulating GaN through the new projects.

The U.S. military is already funding wide-bandgap development through its Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency effort, the report said.

However, the DARPA projects already well underway are concentrating on the more mature non-native substrate SiC. Kyma's approach offers the potential to grow transistors with better high-frequency performance characteristics and reliability, it said.

"The benefits of native GaN have already shown excellent preliminary results across a broad range of device types, including avalanche photodiodes, field-effect transistors, laser diodes, LEDs and Schottky diodes," said Drew Hanser, co-founder and CTO at Kyma.

The use of native substrates has also been identified as a likely move by makers of GaN laser diodes for the latest DVD equipment, who have been beset by yield problems caused to a large degree by the lattice mismatch between sapphire and GaN.

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Canadian parties oppose new BMD ties to U.S.

The new Conservative Canadian government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper made more small but important steps towards launching ballistic missile defense cooepration with the United States over the weekend.

New Defense Minister Gordon O'Connor told a Canadian television program Sunday that his country was open to negotiating with the United States on missile defence if the U.S. government asked for Canadian participation.

"Our policy on ballistic missile defence is that if the Amercians approach us and ask us to enter into negotiations we will," said O'Connor on CTV's Question Period. "If at the end of those negotiations we believe it is in our national interest, we would bring it before Parliament for a vote."

The former Liberal government, faced with intense public pressure, abandoned missile-defence discussions last year.

However, opposition parties are prepared to oppose any such moves. New Democratic Party defense expert Dawn Black said her party continues to oppose Canadian participation. "I think the Liberals were very close to agreeing to missile defence with the U.S., but they heard the overwhelming opposition from Canadians against the increased weaponization of space," she told CTV.

"Canadians are opposed to this. They made their views very well known just a few months ago. I find it rather bizarre that the (Defense) Minister should be testing the winds on ballistic missile defence when it's been very clear what Canadians feel about it," Black aid

Liberal Party defense expert Ujjal Dosanjh told CTV he was concerned with participation in plan that might not work. "First of all, the ballistic missile defense ought to be of some proven value in terms of protection. Secondly, there ought to be no weaponization of space ... So far, it has proven to be of no value, and that's why many other countries aren't buying into it," he said.

However, the Bush administration is taking a low profile on the controversery. The U.S. government is not planning to ask Canada to join the ballistic missile defence system, U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins said Friday.

"I know of no overture presently," he said. "I know of no ongoing discussion on that, so to my knowledge there is no request from either side to begin the discussions."

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