United States Japan to broaden their military alliance by adding new missile defense radar 0310132

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Defence & Security News - Japan / United States

 
 
Thursday, October 3, 2013 09:35 AM
 
United States and Japan to broaden their military alliance by adding new missile defense radar.
Against the backdrop of pressing regional tensions, the United States and Japan agreed Thursday to broaden their military alliance, including by adding a new missile defense radar system in Japan and cooperating to combat cyberthreats.
     
Against the backdrop of pressing regional tensions, the United States and Japan agreed Thursday to broaden their military alliance, including by adding a new missile defense radar system in Japan and cooperating to combat cyberthreats.
United States Secretary of State John Kerry

     

The agreement, signed during a joint visit here by United States Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in a meeting with their Japanese counterparts, signals the United States’ increased military, economic and diplomatic focus on Asia, and it is likely to alarm China, which has had increasingly testy relations with Tokyo.

The deal comes at a time when the Japanese government is seeking to greatly enhance its own military capabilities and to revise its pacifist Constitution, drafted after World War II, paving the way for it to become a more equal partner with the United States in times of conflict.

For the first time, the two countries will work on specific cyberdefense projects to increase cybersecurity in both countries. Further, the United States Marine Corps will replace aging helicopters here with two squadrons of MV-22 aircraft, and will deploy surveillance drones to be based in Japan for the first time. And the P-8, a cutting-edge highly advanced manned reconnaissance airplane, will be deployed for the first time to Japan to help the United States and its allies monitor maritime activities in the Pacific, where Japan and China both claim the same disputed islands.

The Japanese also agreed to offer better military support in global humanitarian relief efforts.