of communication (SLOC) open in the East China Sea southwest of the Japanese home islands. List of JMSDF Aegis Afloat ships (Aegis BMD vessels) Joint BMD patrols In early October 2022, five warships from the United States, Japan, and South Korea held a ballistic missile defense exercise (pictured) in the Sea of Japan as part of the ongoing military response to ongoing North Korean intermediate-range ballistic missile tests over the Japanese home islands. Political debate Tom Laliberty of Raytheon said that President Barack Obama was forced to shift from a land based missile defense system to a sea based one because of the difficulties of coordinating with partner nations. There is discussion about the effectiveness of this plan. Some critics say it is not as effective as a ground-based defense since the most advanced Standard missiles lack even half the range to hit ICBMs and even IRBMs arcing overhead. Also, the U.S. Defense Department has said it would be just one component of a wider defense which might also include ground-based facilities. A Navy panel headed by retired Vice Adm. Phillip Balisle has asserted that since the late 1990s there has been an over-emphasis on saving money, including cuts in crews and streamlined training and maintenance, which has led to a drastic decline in readiness, and has left Aegis combat systems in low state of readiness. And in spite of a reduction in the objective for the number of Aegis armed warships to field, the U.S. Navy will still fall short of this reduced objective under the fiscal year for 2012 shipbuilding plan for the next 30 years. International reaction The Russian government claims that the system is "fueling a new arms race", and is constructed "on ridiculous fabricated pretexts" of protection against non-existent threats of the so-called rogue states. Dmitry Rogozin, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian government, said that the country would "react in the sharpest manner" to any American ships armed with the system found near their shores. Other capabilities The Aegis BMD system, coupled with the RIM-161 Standard missile (SM-3), has also demonstrated a limited capability as an anti-satellite weapon against satellites in the lower portion of low Earth orbit. On February 20, 2008, USA 193 was destroyed by a group of Aegis ships in the Pacific; the stated reason was concern that satellite's hydrazine payload might contaminate land area upon re-entry from an uncontrolled