Japan will shoulder up to $1.2 billion of the cost to jointly develop a next-generation interceptor missile with the United States, the Defense Agency told the Security Council of Japan on Thursday.
The two countries have been jointly conducting research into the new missile since 1999, shortly after North Korea test-fired a missile over Japan in 1998.
Japan and the U.S. plan to start the development stage in the next fiscal year, which begins in March, and the new missile would go into production in 2016, the agency said.
The next-generation missile will be an advanced version of the sea-based Standard Missile 3, and it will be deployed on Aegis-equipped destroyers, according to the agency.
Development of the new missile will cost a total of about $3 billion, and Japan's share will be spread over nine years starting in fiscal 2006, the agency said. Details of the joint development program are likely to be decided at a Cabinet meeting on Dec. 24.
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