OREANDA-NEWS. The Japanese government will conduct new inspections in Yamaguchi Prefecture related to the deployment of Aegis Ashore missile defense systems purchased from the US. This was announced on Wednesday by Minister of Defense Takeshi Iwaya at a meeting with the leadership of the prefecture. "We will carry out a new test, starting the process from scratch", the Japanese news agency quotes him. The head of the Japanese Defense Ministry also once again apologized for the numerous errors and inaccuracies that were made in the report on the results of the previous inspection.

On June 17, authorities in Akita Prefecture in the north of Honshu Island stated that they were demanding that they begin to re-negotiate the deployment of the Aegis Ashore complex there, since the report on the choice of its deployment site revealed numerous errors in the terrain estimates. Later, the administration of the Yamaguchi Prefecture in the south-west of Honshu, where the second missile defense complex is supposed to be installed, demanded clarification on this matter. The report on the choice of site for its location also revealed discrepancies in the results of surveys of the terrain and official maps conducted by the military department.

The US administration in January authorized the sale to Tokyo of two such installations. They are supposed to be located in Yamaguchi Prefecture and in Akita Prefecture. According to the calculations of Tokyo, they should cover virtually the entire territory of the country from the impact of ballistic missiles. The authorities estimate that the Aegis Ashore complexes will cost Japan 268 billion yen (almost $ 2.4 billion), but the defense ministry of the country recognizes that the cost of acquiring them may be higher.

Installation Aegis Ashore, as previously reported by the Ministry of Defense of Japan, is expected to be deployed by 2023, but their placement can be accelerated.