Japanese media reported on Tuesday that the Defense Ministry is purchasing Lockheed Martin’s advanced Solid State Radar upgrade for Japan’s Aegis Ashore missile defense system.
The SSR has an effective range of 1,000 kilometers, making it even more sensitive than the fabled Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system installed in South Korea.
The THAAD system’s effective radar range of 600 kilometers makes North Korea, China, and Russia very nervous because the installation in South Korea can see deep into their territory. Japan’s new radar will be able to cover the entire Korean peninsula with state-of-the-art sensors comparable to what the U.S. military is currently installing in Alaska.
The new Japanese system is expected to come online in 2023. Purchase and installation plans are proceeding even though diplomatic relations with North Korea have improved and Pyongyang is ostensibly committed to dismantling the nuclear missile program that launched several test missiles into Japanese airspace. Japanese defense planners make no secret of wanting improved radar coverage as a defense against China even if North Korea follows through on denuclearization.
A Japanese official described the upgraded radar system to Reuters last week as a “big-ticket” item whose purchase will be “a nice gift for President Trump.” The price tag for the new radar system plus Aegis Ashore missile defense batteries could exceed $4 billion. President Trump encouraged the Japanese to upgrade their defenses with more American military hardware during his November visit to Tokyo.
The U.S. military is also considering billion-dollar upgrades to missile defense radar systems that would provide earlier warning of ICBM launches from North Korea or certain of its neighbors that already happen to have hundreds of intercontinental ballistic missiles in their arsenals.