Japan Hopes to Expand Missile Defense Cooperation With U.S. Next Year, Official Says

Japan plans to embark next year on the development stage of a joint missile defense system with the United States, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, May 24).

The Japanese defense agency is expected to include tens of millions of dollars for the project in next year’s budget, agency chief Yoshinori Ohno told the Asahi Shimbun Sunday.

“We have completed the joint technology research stage,” Ohno said.

“We are now moving toward the development stage.”

“We would like to expand the scope of the missile defense system so we will have the capability to respond to decoys that are used to avoid interceptors against ballistic missiles,” he was quoted by Kyodo News as saying.

Production is scheduled to begin following a five-year development phase, Ohno told the Yomiuri Shimbun.

Ohno also said Tokyo and Washington have plans to conduct the first joint test of the sea-based Standard Missile 3 interceptor next March in Hawaii, according to AFP (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, June 6).

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