May 4, 2006 :: UPI :: Analysis
Japan is now America’s “most important global ally in the development of global missile defense” largely due to the efforts of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, writes the UPI’s Martin Sieff. Koizumi is required to step down in September as leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and as prime minister after five years in the top job, but “the ballistic missile defense alliance he has fashioned with the United States will live on after him.” No other U.S. ally can compare to the financial and industrial resources Japan now brings to BMD development. Japan is assisting in the development of the sea-based Aegis ballistic missile defense system; its industries are shortly expected to begin building Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor missiles; and it has expressed its eagerness to explore airborne laser technologies. Sieff predicts that close cooperation between Japan and the U.S. will continue for many years, as the joint development programs offer a “potential bonanza” of access to cutting edge technology for Japan’s major industries. In addition, BMD has repeatedly proven popular with the Japanese public, so much that “post-Koizumi governments that might otherwise be tempted to cut back on them risk being punished in the voting booths if they do so.”
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