Cost of US-Japan missile defense effort up sharply
Reuters: Aug 3, 2009
By Andrea Shalal-Esa
A joint U.S.-Japanese missile defense program being built by Raytheon Co (RTN.N) is now slated to cost $3.1 billion, $700 million more than expected, mainly due to a Pentagon decision to cancel a separate program, a top military official said on Monday.
U.S. Rear Admiral Brad Hicks, program director of the Aegis sea-based leg of an emerging U.S. anti-missile shield, said the Standard Missile 3 Block IIA ballistic missile interceptor being developed by Raytheon jointly with Japan would be a “game-changer” for the military.
Sailors had nicknamed the missile “the Beast,” he said.
North Korea’s test-firing of a ballistic missile over Japan in August 1998 spurred Tokyo to become the most active U.S. ally in building a layered shield against missiles that could be tipped with chemical, biological or nuclear warheads.
Hicks said the new SM-3 IIA missile, slated to fly in 2014, would make it possible for one ship — instead of three — to protect Japan from enemy missile attacks. The missile could even be placed on land, if needed. …
www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSN0352811220090803
