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US Quietly Arms Key Treaty Ally Near China
The U.S. government last month approved three major weapons sales to Japan, its East Asian security treaty ally that faces threats from both China and North Korea.
Newsweek has emailed the Japanese military for comment. The Chinese military and the North Korean Embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Why It Matters
Both the U.S. and Japan are the signatories of a treaty of mutual cooperation and security. Washington has bolstered Tokyo’s defense capabilities for decades by exporting advanced defense items, ranging from aircraft, including stealth fighter jets, to missiles.
The Chinese military has frequently dispatched air and naval forces around Japan’s islands, which form part of a blockade known as the first island chain against China. The nuclear-armed North Korea has continued its missile tests, which targeted the waters near Japan.
What To Know
On Friday, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced that the U.S. State Department has approved a possible sale of the Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) Block I missiles for $900 million to Japan, which has requested to buy up to 150 missiles.
Raytheon, the manufacturer of the SM-6, claimed the missile can carry out anti-air, anti-ship, and anti-ballistic missile missions. The 290-mile-range missile can be fired from warships, as well as land-based launchers like the Mid-Range Capability (MRC) system.
The DSCA said the sale will improve Japan’s capability to meet current and future threats by deploying the latest Standard Missile variant from its warships, which are equipped with the American combat system known as AEGIS that provides air and missile defense.
Prior to that, the U.S. has agreed the sales of the AIM-120D-3 and AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM), as well as the AGM-158B/B-2 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles with Extended Range (JASSM-ER), to Japan last month.
Japan has sought to purchase 1,200 AMRAAMs for aerial combat, which has a range of over 20 miles, and 16 JASSM-ERs, a stealthy cruise missile that is designed for launching by aircraft against land targets greater than 500 miles away.
The proposed sales of the above three types of American missiles to Japan “will not alter the basic military balance in the region,” the DSCA said in the statements, adding that these military sales to the ally will not have an “adverse impact” on U.S. defense readiness.
What People Are Saying
The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said: “This proposed sale [SM-6 Block I missiles] will support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a major ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in the Indo- Pacific region.”
Raytheon said of the SM-6 missile: “The Navy’s signature system fuses the best missile technology available into a modern weapon. And because it offers navies more flexibility in limited ship space, it’s enabling the U.S. and its allies to cost-effectively increase the offensive might of surface forces.”
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen how long the American defense contractors will deliver the missiles to Japan, which is currently developing “stand-off defense capabilities” to intercept and eliminate invading armed forces against the country from outside the range of the enemy.
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