Aegis Asshore Plan Suspended Aegis Ship-Centered Defense Challenge 4:17, June 17
Following the planned suspension of the new interceptor missile system "Aegis Ashore", the government has decided to continue ballistic missile defense mainly on Aegis ships, but there are also opinions that demand additional countermeasures, It is a challenge to show it.
Regarding the deployment of "Aegis Ashore," Prime Minister Abe said on the night of the 16th, "I decided that I could not proceed any further because the assumptions I explained to the locals were different."
After that, he said, "There should be no gaps in Japan's defense," and he clarified the idea that the NSC (National Security Council) will consider future measures after the suspension of the deployment plan.
The government will continue to focus on ballistic missile defense, centered around the Aegis warship.
The number of Aegis ships will be increased by one from next year to eight ships next spring, but since there are missions other than missile defense, the Ministry of Defense and the Self-Defense Force will be constantly alerting the missiles, thereby burdening the crew. Some people are worried.
For this reason, there are some opinions within the government that the number of Aegis ships should be further increased and new defense systems other than Aegis ships should be considered.
However, in order to realize it, it is necessary to secure time, budget and personnel, and as the security environment becomes more severe, it is a challenge to show additional measures.
On the other hand, following the planned suspension, Minister Kono will first visit Yamaguchi Prefecture within the week in order to explain and apologize to the local who was the candidate site.