Washington: The U.S. government said Friday that it has approved sales of short- and medium-range air-to-air missiles and related equipment to Japan for an estimated 283 million dollars.

The aim of the sales, notified to Congress, is to raise Japan’s deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region, where China is making increasingly hegemonic moves.

“The proposed sale will improve Japan’s capability to meet current and future threats in the region,” the U.S. government said in a statement.

Japan will buy from the United States high-performance missiles such as 44 units of the AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II Tactical Missile and 120 units of the AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM).

JIJI Press