The Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday that the total cost of deployment of two Aegis-Ashore land-based interceptor missile systems will be approximately 466.4 billion yen. It is equipped with state-of-the-art radar manufactured by Lockheed Martin, a major aircraft manufacturer, but the amount is about 1.7 times per unit from the initial assumption. It is said that the start of operation planned for 2023 will be delayed considerably due to circumstances of the US side.
While residing in the trend of the North-US dialogue, the residents of Akita City and Hagi City in Yamaguchi Prefecture, which are candidates for deployment, are strengthening opposition to the government hastening the introduction on account of North Korea's ballistic missile response. With local concerns and budget expansion, it is likely that the introduction will be debated again in the Diet.
The Ministry of Defense adopts "LMSSR". The detection range is over 1 thousand kilometers, more than twice the onboard radar of the Maritime Self Defense Force Aegis. Defense minister Yoshifumi Onodera stressed that the ballistic missile defense capability of Japan will dramatically improve, on the same day.
Initially it was estimated to be 80 billion yen, including radar. However, it increased to about 134 billion yen per unit. The Ministry of Defense has not revealed the total amount, but it was about 466.4 billion yen plus maintenance and operation expenses (about 195.4 billion yen) for 30 years after introduction. Because the main part is procured with paid military aid (FMS) trading between the US and Japan governments, the amount is likely to become "asking price" on the US side of the seller and there is a possibility of further increase.
In addition, it is expected that the operation start date, which we have been in fiscal 2011, will be 25 years at the earliest. Because Lockheed explained that it will take about six years from FMS contract scheduled for next year from the first production to deployment. (Fujiwara Shinichi)