Joint development of the latest Aegis radar to detect the United States, the Korean peninsula and the central

The United States and Japan are pursuing joint development of next-generation radars for use on the Aegis ship for ballistic missile defense, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported on June 6.

The two countries will come together to develop the latest radars with a detection radius of over 1000 km, double the current radius, using Japanese semiconductor technology.

Nikkei said that "strengthen the missile defense network with China in mind, the US-Japan alliance will enter a new phase with cooperation in the radar sector. "

The idea of ​​joint radar development was raised on the agenda during the talks between deputy ministers in June.

According to Nikkei, as soon as the two countries reach an agreement this year, they will begin collaborative research and aim for mbad production after 5 ~ 10 years. The Japanese government plans to pbad the costs of the investigation to the defense budget after 2019.

The next generation radar development was first reported by the US party interested in the technology of the future. Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi Electric, which uses a semiconductor device called "gallium nitride".

Since the output is larger than that of conventional semiconductor devices, it can be used to detect more widely. US companies have the same technology, but in this area, Japan's technological level is even better.

The Aegis ship of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force is equipped with a SPY-1 radar from the Lockheed Martin. The detection capacity is about 500 km. The US Navy plans to install the SPY-6 from Michele Sion, which is twice the detection distance, in the Aegis ship in the future.

However, the radar that the United States and Japan are trying to co-develop was a step forward. Nikkei said that it aims to produce a radar that can be seen not only across the Korean peninsula, but also in parts of eastern China, from Japan's Aegis ship into the sea from the East.

Principle, and & # 39; 3 principle of defense equipment transfer 'newly, it becomes the case of joint development of the first arms between the United States and Japan.

In the current "Three Principles of Export of Weapons", the Japanese Government prohibited in principle the export of arms and related technologies, but only exceptionally. Participation in joint development with the United States in the area of ​​F2 missiles and interceptor missiles is made by one exception.

However, the "three basic principles of defense equipment", called "new principle", allow the export of weapons and joint development if they meet the conditions such as that "

" The Aegis system, which is a high-performance radar capable of capturing missiles and other targets, can be considered an integral part of US military technology, "he said. This means that security cooperation between the two countries is intensifying. "

Tokyo = Seo correspondent Seung Uk [email protected]