TOKYO, December 19. /TASS/. The government of Japan approved on Tuesday a decision on the deployment of two Aegis Ashore missile defense systems in the country.
They will be purchased in the US and will cost Tokyo about 100 billion yen (about $889 million) each.
Deployment of the two Aegis Ashore systems will be enough to protect the entire territory of Japan from a possible missile attack or a ballistic missile.
The systems are expected to be deployed at the proving grounds of the Japanese armed forces in the northern prefecture of Akita and in the southwestern prefecture of Yamaguchi by 2023, but the country may accelerate their deployment. The deployment of these systems is explained by the sharply increased missile threat from North Korea.
To accelerate the preparations for the deployment of missile defense complexes, the government intends to allocate 2.8 billion yen ($24 million) from the supplementary budget for the current financial year (ending March 31, 2018).
Initially, it was supposed to pay about 80 billion yen (almost $ 705 million) for one Aegis Ashore complex. However, later it was decided to set up more expensive equipment, in particular the newest radars.
Aegis Ashore is a land-based missile defense system that is capable of intercepting ballistic missiles above the atmosphere during the midcourse phase of a hostile ballistic missile's flight. It is the sea-based component of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (Aegis BMD).