Missile defense

Japan halts deployment of Aegis Ashore missile defence system

Japanese Defence Minister Taro Kono said on Monday that he had suspended plans to deploy two U.S.-made Aegis Ashore air defence radar stations designed to detect and counter North Korean ballistic missiles.

Kono told reporters that Japan was halting the deployment due to technical issues as well as cost. The two proposed Lockheed Martin Co radar sites, one in the northern prefecture of Akita and the other in Yamaguchi prefecture in southern Japan, had also faced opposition from local residents.

With radars more powerful than the ship-based version of Aegis that Japan already operates, the planned stations were meant to help counter recent missile advances by North Korea and relieve pressure on Japan’s stretched navy.