1st LD Writethru: Japan's DM maintains Aegis Ashore missile interceptors for defense only, doubts remain

TOKYO, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said on Tuesday that a new land-based missile defense system that the government here plans to introduce is "purely" for defensive purposes.

Japan's increased defense spending, specifically the introduction of the Lockheed Martin Corp.-developed system into Japan, along with the U.S. military's pivot to Asia, has raised concern over regional peace and stability.

Onodera made the remarks at a press briefing while responding to concerns raised by Russia a day earlier suggesting, along with other concerned countries, that the U.S. developed system could be easily retrofitted to become an offensive weapon.

The Aegis Ashore system is a land-based version of the Aegis advanced radar system and uses the same technology as those fitted to Maritime Self-Defense Force's (MSDF) Aegis destroyers.

The system consists of equipment including SPY-1 radars and a battery of Standard Missile-3s that would be deployed to intercept missiles that are flying outside of the earth's atmosphere.

Japan currently uses Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors (PAC-3) surface-to-air missile defense systems, as its second line of defense, that have the capability of intercepting missiles at lower altitudes as they reenter the earth's atmosphere.

From the 5.19 trillion yen (46.86 billion U.S. dollars) allocation for defense spending, a record-high under the administration of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, some 730 million yen (6.59 million U.S. dollars) will be used in preparation costs alone for the introduction of the U.S.-developed land-based missile defense system.

The hefty costs were approved by Japan's Cabinet in December, with the government formally deciding to introduce two Aegis Ashore systems to cover the entire nation and for them to become operational by fiscal 2023.

Each system, developed by Lockheed Martin Corp., costs around 100 billion yen (903 million U.S. dollars), defense ministry officials have said. Enditem