Japan looks to accelerate a $1 billion investment toward its ballistic missile defense systems in response to North Korea’s rocket tests that government personnel believe may lead to the future fielding of a medium-range missile, Reuters reported Monday.
Nobuhiro Kubo and Tim Kelly write outlays on a budget request for the year include money to assess a potential new layer that will either be Lockheed Martin‘s (NYSE: LMT) Terminal High Altitude Area Defense or the Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense system.
The report noted Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, contractors on the delivery of Patriot missile batteries, have been under tight production schedules and accelerated spending on the batteries may not lead to quicker updates.
North Korea has test fired more than 21 ballistic missiles and conducted two nuclear tests that included a medium range Musudan rocket launch that reached an altitude of 620 miles on a lofted trajectory.
