Japan Scraps Aegis Ashore Plan Due to NIMBY Concerns

For the Japanese military it is back to the drawing board to find a persistent means to protect the country from a North Korean missile attack:

The Japanese government has ordered officials to quickly come up with an alternative to the rejected U.S.-made Aegis Ashore missile-defense system, possibly one that can float on a platform at sea.

The U.S. ally scrapped plans to deploy the U.S. system in Yamaguchi and Akita prefectures in June due to the cost and a projected 10-year delay to ensure that interceptor missile boosters fell safely on unpopulated areas.

The system was intended to provide all of Japan with seamless, 24/7 protection against North Korean ballistic missiles.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has instructed Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi to come up with an alternative plan by the end of the year, according to Japan’s Defense Ministry.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but you would think a booster dropping from an interceptor would be the least of anyone’s worries if North Korea was firing ballistic missiles that could be equipped with WMD at Japan. Additionally the residents around each site are worried they will be attacked if the system is built near them. Unfortunately the Japanese government takes NIMBY concerns very seriously and scrapped the Aegis Ashore plan.

Until Japan comes up with an alternative, they will have to rely on their maritime Aegis ships which are difficult to sustain over prolonged periods of time for a persistent missile defense against North Korea’s most advanced threats. Some alternatives the Japanese are reportedly looking at is putting the Aegis system on a barge or oil platform that would keep it at sea away from neighborhoods, but vulnerable to sabotage and submarine attacks. I guess we will see in the coming years what Japan’s defense industry is able to come up with.