On August 4, 2020, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received the recommendations report of the "Missile Defense Study Team" of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) which is Japan's ruling party.

Following the recent stop to the Aegis Ashore missile defense system deployment in Japan, Prime Minister Shinzō Abe's party is looking at possible alternatives. Options include additional Aegis destroyers, armed mega floats and even offensive conventional strike capability. Yoshihiro Inaba has the details and explains why the third option would be a major change for Japan's defense policy.

The Japanese Ministry of Defense (MOD) announced this week its intention to halt deployment of the Aegis Ashore missile defense system citing difficulties in ensuring that rocket boosters from the interceptors do not fall in populated areas. The real reason may actually have to do with the radar system, namely SPY-6 and SPY-7. Yoshihiro Inaba has the story.