Iwaya visits U.S. Aegis Ashore test site

January 21, 2019

The Japan News:

KAUAI ISLAND, Hawaii — Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya visited on Friday a U.S. Defense Department facility on Kauai island, Hawaii, used to test the effectiveness of the Aegis Ashore land-based missile interception system.

Iwaya met with senior U.S. Missile Defense Agency officials and received an explanation of the missile system’s functionality.

Aegis Ashore possesses missile defense capabilities equivalent to those of an Aegis-equipped destroyer.

The government plans to deploy the system to Ground Self-Defense Force training sites in Akita and Yamaguchi prefectures. The GSDF plans to start operating the system around fiscal 2025. Implementation of the system will strengthen Japan’s defenses against ballistic missiles, as the new units will cover all of Japan in tandem with the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Aegis-equipped destoyers.

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