Japan-U.S. Cooperation on Ballistic Missile Defense: Issues and Prospects (Congressional Research Service)

Japan-U.S. Cooperation on Ballistic Missile Defense: Issues and Prospects

Congressional Research Service Report for Congress

........The issue of missile defense cooperation with Japan intersects with several issues
of direct concern to Congress, ranging from support for developing a capability to
protect U.S. regional forces, Asia-Pacific allies, and Taiwan, from Chinese short- and
medium-range missiles, to countering a possible future threat to U.S. territory from
long-range missiles developed by North Korea. Japan’s current participation in the
U.S. ballistic missile defense (BMD) program dates from August 1999, when the
Japanese government agreed to conduct cooperative research on four components of
the interceptor missile being developed for the then U.S. Navy Theater-Wide (NTW)
anti-missile system–a sea-based “upper tier” (exo-atmospheric) capability against
short- and medium-range missiles up to 3,500 kilometers.........

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