The US State Department has approved the sale of two Lockheed Martin AEGIS Ashore ground-based anti-missile systems to Japan, the latest move in Tokyo’s ongoing military buildup that has set China on edge.
The proposed $2.15 billion sale, which includes related missile defense equipment also manufactured by Lockheed, was reported to Congress by the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Tuesday. Also approved was a related command and control processor refresh, which will be built by General Dynamics.
The AEGIS Ashore is the land-based version of the main US naval anti-missile system, which Japan already has on some of its destroyers. The batteries will be able to fire the SM-3 Block IIA/Block IB interceptors once deployed sometime around 2023, and will add the supersonic SM-6 interceptors to its arsenal by the end of the decade.
