SPY-7 radar, which is compatible with the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, is the best radar system that can be mounted on Japan's new ships, Vice President of Lockheed Tom Rowden said on Tuesday, as quoted by Kyodo news
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th November, 2020) SPY-7 radar, which is compatible with the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, is the best radar system that can be mounted on Japan's new ships, Vice President of Lockheed Tom Rowden said on Tuesday, as quoted by Kyodo news.
Tokyo has not yet decided on the radars it will mount on Japanese new naval vessels designed to intercept ballistic missiles. The Japanese defense ministry has opted for Lockheed's SPY-7. However, the lawmakers from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party favor SPY-6 produced by another US defense company, Raytheon Missiles & Defense.
"The beauty of SPY-7 is that it operates with the Aegis combat system ... As a result of that, the interoperability, which is dependent upon the combat system is fully guaranteed," Rowden said.
According to Scott Spence, a Naval Radar Program Area Director at Raytheon, SPY-6 radar is able to simultaneously detect several targets, namely fighters, cruise and ballistic missiles. In this regard, SPY-6 surpasses Lockheed's SPY-7.
In September, the media reported that Japan was planning to use mobile sea-based platforms for its missile defense after scrapping plans to deploy land-based Aegis Ashore systems to forestall the risk of rocket boosters falling onto populated areas. The Aegis Ashore systems were intended to bolster Japan's defense capability in relation to North Korea. The new plan envisages building ships designed to carry anti-missile system to guarantee that the Japanese air-defense system will not harm the country's population.
