The Japan Times:
The Defense Ministry plans to equip the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s new Aegis-equipped destroyer Maya with the Standard Missile-6, or SM-6, anti-air missile system to shoot down cruise missiles, according to informed sources.
The ministry included ¥13.2 billion in its fiscal 2019 budget request to acquire the SM-6 interceptors. The Maya, which has state-of-the-art ballistic missile defense capability, is slated to be commissioned in 2020.
The ministry is promoting an Integrated Air and Missile Defense initiative that will intercept missiles through the integrated use of Aegis vessels, early-warning aircraft, radars and other equipment, mainly in view of the threats posed by cruise missiles owned by China and under development by North Korea. The SM-6 system will be part of the IAMD initiative.
In the budget request, the ministry called for ¥11.1 billion to acquire the SM-6 interceptor missiles and ¥2.1 billion for a launch test.
