Japan’s Yamaguchi on Missile Defense
Earlier this month, the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Organization tasked the Naval Surface Warfare Center to engineer, integrate, and flight-test sub-orbital rockets as tracking vehicles, Aegis Readiness Assessment Vehicles, which simulate missile threats. Japan’s navy is incorporating Aegis BMD capabilities as part of its defense.
Even as costs rise, it’s imperative that Japan strengthens its missile defense, especially in the face of North Korea’s missile tests over the country, but leaders of Japan’s new government don’t sound concerned. (Source).
“Missile defense is almost totally useless,” according to politician Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi. “Only one or two out of 100 are ever effective.”
So, his solution is to reduce missile defense funding instead of building it up. Don’t Yamaguchi and his cohorts care about North Korea’s defiance and nuclear ambitions? Like most left-leaning types, he’s more concerned about social programs than defense.
Yamaguchi may be correct that his country’s current missile defense capabilities are insufficient, but the solution to the problem is bigger and better missile defense, not smaller and worse missile defense.
(Image source: CNN)
Tags: Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense, Japan, North Korea, Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi