Japan tells U.S. of plan to build ships solely for missile defense

Japan has told the United States that it views building specialized ships to counter ballistic missiles as the most viable alternative to the scrapped plan to deploy land-based, U.S.-developed Aegis Ashore systems, government sources said Saturday.Building vessels equipped with the radar and missile launch system initially destined for Aegis Ashore, whose functions are only limited to countering ballistic missiles, will be cheaper than adding more Aegis-equipped destroyers capable of responding to attacks from fighter jets and submarines as well, the sources said.The plan emerged as outgoin…READ FULL ARTICLE