The U.S. Department of State approved the possible sale of two Aegis Ashore batteries, the land-based variant of the Aegis combat system for defense against ballistic and cruise missiles, to Japan for an estimated $2.15 billion, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a January 29 statement. The foreign military sale is still subject to congressional approval.
In addition to the two Aegis batteries, the sale will include two multimission signal processors, two command and control processor refreshes, radio navigation equipment, naval ordnance, two identification friend or foe systems, global command and control system-maritime hardware, and two inertial navigation systems.
“This proposed sale will provide the government of Japan with an enhanced capability against increasingly sophisticated ballistic missile threats and create an expanded, layered defense of its homeland,” the January 29 statement reads. “Japan, which already has the AEGIS in its inventory, will have no difficulty absorbing this system into its armed forces.”
