On June 15, Japanese Minister of Defense Taro Kono announced that Japan would suspend plans to deploy the Aegis Ashore missile defense system due to “cost and schedule” concerns, triggering a government-wide review of Japan’s missile defense program. The plan, which would deploy Aegis Ashore systems in Yamaguchi and Akita prefectures, has faced multiple schedule...
Tensions with Iran are once again increasing. The slow implosion of the nuclear accord, Iran’s harassment of cargo ships, and the downing of a U.S. unmanned aircraft have made plain the risk of conflict between Iran and the United States. The dispute should also draw attention to the questionable preparedness of the United States and...
On April 7, Japan’s Jiji Press reported that the country’s Aegis Ashore sites will not be equipped with Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC). Japanese officials acknowledge that without CEC, the land-based Aegis systems will be limited to countering ballistic missiles, and ineffective against cruise missiles or aircraft. Japan’s Aegis destroyers and existing air defenses will defend...
On December 11, the U.S. Navy and Missile Defense Agency conducted an SM-3 Block IIA intercept test from an Aegis Ashore facility at the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii. The SM-3 IIA successfully intercepted an IRBM target launched by a USAF C-17 thousands of kilometers southwest of the Aegis Ashore site. An MDA...
On July 30, Japan announced that it will deploy one Aegis Ashore missile defense system over the course of six years, as opposed to the previously planned five. The Japan Times reported, “The government is considering two Ground Self-Defense Force training areas — in Akita and Yamaguchi prefectures — as candidate sites to install the system. It...
According to a source in the Japanese Defense Ministry, Japan has refined the cost estimates for its two proposed Aegis Ashore batteries, indicating the actual cost may be twice the original estimate. The system, which the government aims to have operational by 2030, may come at a price of 400 billion yen alone, with the...
On June 21, Japan will cancel missile evacuation drills in nine prefectures, citing the reduced threat from North Korea following the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore on June 12. According to Time, “Japan’s government started missile-specific evacuation drills last March,” and stated that it would not hold the drills provided the current threat from North Korea...
On June 12, speaking at the U.S. Naval War College, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson advocated for a transition from regular naval ballistic missile defense patrols to land-based BMD with systems like Aegis Ashore. Reflecting on the Navy’s BMD, Richardson said “It’s a pretty good capability and if there is an emergent need...
Japan’s Cabinet approved a plan to purchase two Aegis Ashore systems on Tuesday in response to the growing North Korean missile threat. During a press conference, Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera stated, “We cannot say what the final costs will be, but we will move ahead [to introduce Aegis Ashore] on the fastest possible schedule, given...
The Japanese Defense Ministry has requested an additional 730 million yen (6.4 million USD) in the FY 2018 defense budget to begin building two land-based Aegis Ashore missile defense systems. Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters on Sunday that, “There is a need to strengthen our capability to regularly and sustainably defend all of the...
