Japan's Wish List for Weapons

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Bradley Perrett, Japan Plans Aegis Ashore, Standoff Missiles, Maybe F-35Bs. Aviation Week & Space Technology, Jan 15, 2018.

Quote:

(a) "Aegis Ashore [to be operated by Japan's army] will offer national coverage against North Korean ballistic missiles but, the [Japanese] government suggests, not until 2022-23. The system will use SM [Standard Missile]-3 Block 2A interceptor and, the Nikkei newspaper says, the SM-6 for protection against cruise missiles. SM-3 Block 2A was developed in partnership with Japan [specifically, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries] for thwarting ballistic targets that flew farther and faster than those that SM-3 Block 1 could handle.

"The five-year wait for Aegis Ashore does not leave Japan vulnerable in the meantime, because the destroyers already provide ballistic missile defense (BDM) with SM-3 Block 1 and will do more effectively in a few years as they field SM-3 Block 2A. Indeed, the main effect of the Aegis Ashore is to take pressure off them. 'Currently, the [navy's] Aegis-equipped destroyers are responsible for missile defense, but given that this task must be performed continually, on a 23-hrs-a-day, 354-days-a-year basis, it is desirable to deploy land-based Aegis Ashore system,' Defense Minister  Itsunori Onodera 小野寺 五典says.

"The US government has notified Congress of a proposed sale of four SM-3 Block IIA rounds to Japan, presumably to be used for test shots by destroyers [Having passed tests, Block IIA is in the phase of production, but not even US has fielded it, but plan to do so in 2018]. Since the new weapons [Block IIA] have larger reach, fewer destroyers will be needed in station.

(b) "The possibility of what is euphemistically called pre-boost interception of ballistic missiles -- that is, hitting them on the ground -- has arisen with the [Japan's] defense minister's proposal to introduce [standoff air-to-surface missiles: 3 under consideration]. * * * The three weapons, all cruise missiles with varying ranges of more than 500 km (310 mi)are the Kongsberg JSM (Joint Standoff  Missile), the Lockheed Martin AGM-158B JASSM-ER (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile - Extended Range) and its derivative, the AGM-158C LRASM (Long Range Anti-Ship Missile).

"Such a subsonic missile fired from a safe position over the Sea of Japan would take about 20 minutes to reach a North Korean launcher prudently placed near the Chinese border. Moreover, [it, the subbonic missile,] could not be launched until the targeted vehicles [ie, N Korean mobile missile launcher] were moved out of a protective tunnel, then detected, confidently identified, a decision made to attack it and the order given-- a sequence that could take several minutes. The time for setting up and firing the North Korean Huasong 火星-6 ballistic missile, developed from the Soviet R-17 (Scud) series, could be just 15-20 minutes., according to Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

(c) F-35Bs "would compensate for a lack of sufficiently long runways in the southwestern islands, other local media report. Izumo's sister, Kaga, would presumably be converted. * * * Another reported i[in Japanese news media] possibility is to operate US Marine Corps F-35Bs from Japanese flight decks.

Note:
(a) summary underneath the title in print:
> Abe aims to shake up defense budget
> AESA METEOR moving to test phase
(b) AESA stands for active electronically scanned array/

Meteor (missile)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_(missile)
(c) station (n): "the place where someone or something stands or is placed on military or other duty  <the lookout resumed his station in the bow [船首; of a ship]>"
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/station