The Defense Ministry has announced that the planned Aegis Ashore ground-based missile defense system will be equipped with the state-of-the-art solid-state radar (SSR) produced by Lockheed Martin Corp., a move that will significantly raise the cost from the initial estimate.
The cost is expected to soar to 466.4 billion yen, including 267.9 billion yen for acquiring two Aegis Ashore units with SSR, as well as maintenance and operating expenses and training costs.
The start of the Aegis Ashore's operation, which was aimed for fiscal 2023, could be delayed by about two years.
Aegis Ashore is a land-based facility with a missile defense capability equivalent to that of an Aegis-equipped destroyer. The ministry plans to include the cost for the main body of two Aegis Ashore units in its budgetary request for fiscal 2019.
The cost was initially estimated at about 80 billion yen per unit, but it has jumped to 134 billion yen as the SSR radar, developed by Lockheed, is the most advanced technology available.
SSR can detect targets at a distance of 1,000-plus kilometers. It will be able to monitor all of North Korea constantly from Akita and Yamaguchi prefectures, where the Aegis Ashore units are expected to be deployed.
The radar will enhance Japan's ability to counter a saturation attack, in which numerous ballistic missiles land at the same time, as well as a ballistic missile launched on a lofted trajectory, in which a projectile is sent up at a steeper angle than normal.
The 466.4 billion yen, which has been proposed by the U.S. Defense Department's Missile Defense Agency and Lockheed, includes 195.4 billion yen for maintaining and operating the system for 30 years and 3.1 billion yen for educational training costs.
The figure does not cover expenditures for facility development and maintenance, interceptor missiles and missile launchers.
Meanwhile, the first Aegis Ashore unit is likely to be delivered six years after its contract is concluded. In light of this, the start of operation could be delayed into fiscal 2025.
The Defense Ministry has decided to install the radar in a bid to enhance the nation's interception ability, as the threat from North Korea's ballistic missiles remains intact.
Amid concerns over the ballooning costs for the Aegis Ashore deployment, the ministry intends to thoroughly explain the importance of the radar's introduction.
"Our country's ballistic missile defense capability will dramatically improve" by introducing the SSR radar, Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters at the ministry on Monday. "The introduction is essential."
The ministry considered Lockheed's SSR and the SPY-6 developed by Raytheon Co. as candidates. Initially, the SPY-6 radar was believed to be the favorite, as it is scheduled to be installed on a U.S. Navy Aegis-equipped destroyer. However, the SSR has been regarded as advantageous cost-wise, as well as its capability to detect targets and simultaneously deal with numerous ballistic missiles.
The SSR adopts the technology used in the LRDR interception radar for an intercontinental ballistic missile, which is currently being constructed in Alaska. The SSR's detection distance is 1,000-plus kilometers -- more than double the SPY-1 radar, which is carried by the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Aegis-equipped destroyers.
In response to Pyongyang's mood for dialogue and the soaring costs, some people, mainly from the opposition camp, have argued that the Aegis Ashore units are unnecessary. However, Onodera said, "The threat from North Korea remains unchanged."
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