Japan to Buy U.S.-Made Missile Interceptors

Japan plans to buy 36 U.S.-made Standard Missile 3 interceptors from 2007 to 2010 for deployment on destroyers equipped with the Aegis air defense system, Kyodo News reported today (see GSN, Dec. 21, 2005).

The two countries are expected to test one of the interceptors in 2008 in Hawaii. It would be fired from the destroyer Kongo.

The destroyers Chokai, Myoko and Kirishima are also expected to receive SM-3 interceptors, possibly along with two ships now under construction in Nagasaki, Kyodo reported.

U.S. Patriot Advanced Capability 3 missiles are also expected to be deployed in Japan by March 2007 (Kyodo News/Yahoo!News, Jan. 10).

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