mod.go.jp
Reuters Staff
DECEMBER 5, 2017
TOKYO, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Japan is preparing to acquire
precision air-launched missiles that for the first time would give it the
capability to strike North Korean missile sites, two sources with direct
knowledge of the matter said.
Japan plans to put money aside in its next defence budget
starting April to study whether its F-15 fighters could launch longer-range
missiles including Lockheed Martin Corp’s extended-range Joint Air-to-Surface
Standoff Missile (JASSM-ER), which can hit targets 1,000 km (620 miles) away,
said one the sources with knowledge of the plan.
“There is a global trend for using longer range missiles
and it is only natural that Japan would want to consider them,” he said. The
sources asked to remain anonymous as they were not authorised to talk to media.
Japan is also interested in buying the 500 km-range Joint
Strike Missile designed by Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace to be
carried by the F-35 stealth fighter, Fuji Television reported earlier.
Neither of those two items are included in a 5.26
trillion yen ($46.76 billion) budget request already submitted by Japan’s
Ministry of Defence, however additional funds would be made available to
evaluate the purchase of these missiles, the sources said.
The change suggests that the growing threat posed by
North Korean ballistic missiles has given proponents of a strike capability the
upper hand in military planning.
Restrictions on strike weapons imposed by its
war-renouncing constitution means Japan’s missile force is composed of anti-aircraft
and anti-ship munitions with ranges of less than 300 kms (186 miles).
Any decision to buy longer range weapons capable of
striking North Korea or even the Chinese mainland would therefore be
controversial, but proponents argue that the strike weapons can play a
defensive role.
“We are not currently looking at funding for this,”
Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said on Tuesday at a regular press
briefing.
“We rely on the United States to strike enemy bases and
are not looking at making any changes to how we share our roles,” he added.
Before he took up his post in August, Onodera led a group
of ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers that recommended Japan acquire
strike weapons to deter Pyongyang from launching any attack on Japan.
North Korea has since fired ballistic missiles over Japan
and last week tested a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile that
climbed to an altitude of more than 4,000 km before splashing into the Sea of
Japan within Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
$1 = 112.5000 yen Reporting by Nobuhiro Kubo; writing by
Tim Kelly; editing by Richard Pullin
Original post: reuters.com
Joint Strike Missile
Norway has decided to procure the F-35, the Joint Strike
Fighter, manufactured by Lockheed Martin to replace its F-16s. The Royal
Norwegian Air Force needs a modern weapon system for its new aircraft, and has
decided to develop a new missile, the Joint Strike Missile, JSM, which can be
carried externally and internally in the bomb bay of the F-35.
The JSM missile system is designed for both Anti
Surface Warfare (ASuW) and Naval Fire Support (NFS) missions in:
- Open
sea
- Littoral
- Over land
To comply with operation in these areas the missile
system has been designed with:
- Advanced
engagement planning system which exploits the geography in the area
- Accurate
navigation system for flight close to terrain
- High
maneuverability to allow flight planning in close vicinity to land masses
- Imaging
target seeker for discrimination of land and non-targets
The JSM long range facilitates:
- Launch
platform standoff
- Flexibility
in engagement planning
- Sea
control / Sea denial over a wide area
- Naval
fire support and strike missions at long distance
The JSM weapon Data Link will be a two-way networking
data link that will offer the following capabilities to the operator:
- Target
Update
- Re-Targeting
- Mission
abort
- Bomb Hit Indication (BHI)
Source: kongsberg.com
Source: wikiwand.com
Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM-ER): Details
Mitsubishi F-15J: Details
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