The U.S. military corporation Raytheon has launched a lobbying campaign to compensate for the failure of the United States to build Aegis Ashore missile systems in Japan.
This was reported by the agency “Reuters,” citing three informed sources.
Aegis Ashore is a ground component of the U.S. global missile defense program. The peculiarity of “Aegis” systems is that they can be used for offensive purposes as well. The installation of such systems in Romania and Poland has already provoked an escalation of tensions in Europe, because in fact the complexes can be used to launch a missile attack on Russia.
Earlier, Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono suspended the construction of ground facilities of the American missile system in his country. The official position of the military department was that the objects would be located too close to populated areas. At the same time, Reuters sources argue that Tokyo was not satisfied with the growth of costs associated with the construction of U.S. missile defense systems.
In this regard, Raytheon began to insist that Japan at least buy U.S. radars, emphasizing that this way Japan can save money. The point is that the radars had to be installed at Aegis Ashore facilities. Tokyo even had a corresponding contract worth $300 million with Lockheed Martin, another American military corporation participating in the Aegis program.
Sources warn that Japan may also face political consequences if the country’s authorities refuse the American corporations. It has also become known that former Japanese Defense Minister Inzunori Onodera has become the main US lobbyist on this issue in Tokyo. It was he who two years ago approved the purchase of radars, although he did not know at the time that the budget of Aegis Ashore would increase by at least $500 million.