{"id":54892,"date":"2017-12-19T05:26:13","date_gmt":"2017-12-19T05:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=54892"},"modified":"2017-12-19T05:26:13","modified_gmt":"2017-12-19T05:26:13","slug":"japan-to-expand-ballistic-missile-defence-with-ground-based-aegis-batteries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/japan-to-expand-ballistic-missile-defence-with-ground-based-aegis-batteries.html","title":{"rendered":"Japan to expand ballistic missile defence with ground-based Aegis batteries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Japan to expand ballistic missile defence with ground-based Aegis batteries<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Japan to expand ballistic missile defence with ground-based Aegis batteries:- Japan formally decided on Tuesday it would expand its ballistic missile defence system with U.S.-made ground-based Aegis radar stations and interceptors in response to a growing threat from North Korean rockets.<\/span><\/p>\n

A proposal to build two Aegis Ashore batteries was approved by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe\u2019s Cabinet.<\/span><\/p>\n

The sites without the missiles will likely cost at least $2 billion and are not likely to be operational until 2023 at the earliest, sources familiar with the plan told Reuters earlier.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNorth Korea\u2019s nuclear missile development poses a new level of threat to Japan and as we have done in the past we will ensure that we are able to defend ourselves with a drastic improvement in ballistic missile defence,\u201d Japanese Minister of Defence Itsunori Onodera told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n

The decision to acquire the ground version of the Aegis missile-defence system, which is already deployed on Japanese warships, was widely expected.<\/span><\/p>\n

North Korea on Nov. 29 tested a new, more powerful ballistic missile that it says can hit major U.S. cities including Washington, and fly over Japan\u2019s current defence shield.<\/span><\/p>\n

That rocket reached an altitude of more than 4,000 km (2,485 miles), well above the range of interceptor missiles on Japanese ships operating in the Sea of Japan.<\/span><\/p>\n

North Korea says its weapons programmes are necessary to counter U.S. aggression.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new Aegis stations may not, however, come with a powerful radar, dubbed Spy-6, which is being developed by the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

Without it, Japan will not be able to fully utilise the extended range of a new interceptor missile, the SM-3 Block IIA, which cost about $30 million each.<\/span><\/p>\n

A later upgrade, once the U.S. military has deployed Spy-6 on its ships around 2022, could prove a costly proposition for Japan as outlays on new equipment squeeze its military budget.<\/span><\/p>\n

Initial funding will be ring-fenced in the next defence budget beginning in April, but no decision has been made on the radar, or the overall cost, or schedule, of the deployment, a Ministry of Defence official said at a press briefing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s military planners also evaluated the U.S.-built THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) system before deciding on Aegis Ashore.<\/span><\/p>\n

Separately, Minister of Defence Itsunori Onodera said this month Japan would acquire medium-range cruise missiles it can launch from its F-15 and F-35 fighters at sites in North Korea, in a bid to deter any attack.<\/span><\/p>\n

The purchase of what will become the longest-range munitions in Japan\u2019s military arsenal is controversial because it renounced the right to wage war against other nations in its post-World War Two constitution.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/in.reuters.com\/article\/northkorea-missiles-japan-aegis\/japan-to-expand-ballistic-missile-defence-with-ground-based-aegis-batteries-idINKBN1ED07X<\/span><\/p>\n

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