Japan, US to Complete New Generation Missile Development by Spring 2017

Japan and the United States plan to complete the development of sea-based SM-3 Block IIA missile interceptor by the spring of 2017, the commissioner of Japan's Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA) said on Saturday.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — "Japan is collaborating heavily with the U.S. to develop defense kit, including the next-generation, sea-launched SM-3 Block IIA missile. Development is to conclude by the end of fiscal 2016 [March 2017], making it deployable," Nikkei Asian Review quoted Hideaki Watanabe as saying.

Japan and the United States began to develop the Standard Missile (SM)-3 Block IIA missiles in 2006.

The first test of the missile was conducted earlier this year in California. According to the earlier reports, the deployment of these missiles had been scheduled for 2018.