[ad_1]
Yomiuri ShimbunThe Ministry of Defense took the decision to develop the first nationally made long-range home-made cruise missile built on the air force defense aircraft and capable of attacking a ship. of war outside the battlefield of an opponent.
The new missile, to be developed in response to the rapid advance of the Chinese Navy's striking capabilities, will enhance Japan's deterrence by extending the range to more than 400 kilometers. The ministry plans to put the new missile into service a few years later, government sources said.
The new missile is considered to have a "remote defense capability", allowing attacks beyond the reach of adversaries. The defense capability at a distance was stipulated in the new directives of the national defense program, adopted by the Cabinet last December.
The Ministry of Defense has completed the development of the ASM-3 supersonic air-to-ship missile during FY 2017. Mounted on an F-2 ASDF fighter, the missile is capable of flying at Mach 3, either about 3 times faster than conventional planes. national anti-ship missiles.
The missile is considered the least vulnerable to the opponent's interception because of its speed, but it is thought that its range is only about 100 kilometers to about 200 kilometers.
The new missile is expected to have a range of more than 400 kilometers by making improvements such as the fuel load of the ASM-3 missiles, bearing in mind the enhanced capability of anti-aircraft missiles mounted on Chinese warships.
In the 2000s, China made its debut with a high-performance warship dubbed the "Aegis Chinese destroyer", equipped with missiles with a range of about 150 kilometers. Only between 2013 and 2018, more than 15 such destroyers would have come into service and their number is expected to increase further.
The ASM-3 missile, which was fully developed in fiscal 2010, has a reduced range equivalent to that of Japan's existing missiles because of "a political consideration that [a missile with a greater range] could be perceived as being able to hit enemy bases, "said a senior official at the Ministry of Defense.
However, in order to effectively counter a missile strike launched by the Chinese Navy, a missile whose range of action is twice that of the ASM-3 is deemed necessary.
The short range of ASM-3, whose development is complete, has been questioned even within the Ministry of Defense. The department has therefore not included the purchase of missiles in its draft budgets for the 2018 and 2019 fiscal years. The ministry is currently considering incorporating the expense related to the development of new missiles into its budget for the year 2020, at the earliest.Speech
Source link
