Bloomberg Politics:
The Pentagon is providing Japan with initial pricing and technical data to decide if it wants to buy a ground-based version of the Aegis missile defense system used on U.S. Navy cruisers and destroyers, according to officials and documents.
Exchanges of information about the Aegis Ashore system, with radar and command-and-control equipment from Lockheed Martin Corp. and a missile from Raytheon Corp., is the first step in a process that sometimes takes years to complete, according to the officials, who asked not to be identified discussing the preliminary contacts. It could culminate in a formal notification to the U.S. Congress of a proposed sale.
In a visit to Tokyo on Monday, President Donald Trump talked up Japanese purchases of U.S. defensive military systems, both to blunt the threat from North Korea’s nuclear program and to improve the balance of trade between the two allies.
