Artist’s impression of future Japanese BMD ship. JSDF Photo
The Japanese Ministry of Defense released last week new details on Tokyo’s plan to build two ballistic missile defense warships to counter North Korean missiles. Read More
JS Maya(DDG-179) in Port of Kobe, Japan on Nov. 23, 2020. JMSDF Photo
Japan’s Ministry of Defence is proposing to build a pair of ballistic missile defense ships – the among largest warships in the Japanese inventory since World War II – government officials said last week. Read More
Aegis Ashore Ballistic Missile Defense site in Romania on Oct. 14, 2021. US Navy Photo
In a proposal to ease tensions over a Russian military build-up in Ukraine, NATO and U.S. negotiators offered Moscow the opportunity to inspect two ballistic missile defense sites to prove the alliance has no offensive missiles.
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On Nov. 16, U.S. Missile Defense Agency and Navy sailors aboard USS John Finn (DDG 113), an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System-equipped destroyer, fired a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA guided missile that successfully intercepted and destroyed a mock Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) during a flight test demonstration in the broad ocean area northeast of Hawaii in November 2020. MDA photo.
The U.S. has several options to defend Guam against attack, the director of the Missile Defense Agency said this week, as the House Armed Service Committee wants more details on what exactly will be put in place against different threats and at what cost. Read More
The new Naval Support Facility in Redzikowo, Poland, will be home to the Aegis Ashore Ballistic Missile Defense System(AABMDS) mission. Photo represents construction progress as of August 2019. US Navy Photo
The chief of naval operation’s new call to focus on sea control and power projection could lead the service to shed other non-core missions the Navy conducts today, such as manning Aegis Ashore missile defense sites. Read More
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the Japan Ministry of Defense (MoD), and U.S. Navy sailors aboard USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) successfully conducted a flight test Feb. 3 (Hawaii Standard Time), resulting in the first intercept of a ballistic missile target using the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA off the west coast of Hawaii. MDA photo.
This post has been updated to include additional context noting that any Standard Missile interceptor would cause the same safety concerns for the Japanese Aegis Ashore sites.
The U.S. military considers the development of the Standard Missile 3 Block IIA ballistic missile interceptor to be complete and the weapon ready for production, even as co-developer Japan has changed its mind about using the interceptor as part of a shore-based ballistic missile defense site. Read More
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and U.S. Sailors manning the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test Complex (AAMDTC) at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) at Kauai, Hawaii, successfully conducted Flight Test Integrated-03 (FTI-03). MDA photo.
Japan is backing away from installing two Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems in the country over technical concerns, Minster of Defense Taro Kono told reporters on Monday. Read More
The new Naval Support Facility in Redzikowo, Poland, will be home to the Aegis Ashore Ballistic Missile Defense System(AABMDS) mission. Photo represents construction progress as of August 2019. US Navy photo.
The Missile Defense Agency and Army Corps of Engineers are taking a harsh stance with a contractor building the Aegis Ashore site in Poland, after construction delays have pushed the site’s operational date back by four years. Read More
