TOKYO: Japan’s Defense Ministry is poised to build two new Aegis destroyers in place of an abandoned plan to introduce the Aegis Ashore ground-based ballistic missile defense system.

A total of some 500 additional Maritime Self-Defense Force personnel will be secured in line with the introduction of the two new vessels, while the ministry will improve the work environment for crew members at a time when securing and maintaining personnel for long-term maritime missions is a challenge, informed sources said.

The two new destroyers, for which some 250 crew members are seen to be secured each, will go into service with eight other Aegis ships already scheduled for deployment. The ministry will speed up work to fix details of the plan in order to seek necessary funds under the government’s fiscal 2021 budget, to be compiled next month.

As part of measures to secure crew members, the ministry will raise the retirement age for Self-Defense Forces members. It has already begun preparations to raise the age limit for officers with the ranks of captain or lower to 55-58 from 53-56 by fiscal 2028. This measure is expected to enable about 2,000 veteran SDF officers to remain on active duty, while relatively young officers can be deployed for missions on the new destroyers on a priority basis, according to the sources.

To improve the work conditions, a system set to be adopted for a state-of-the-art small destroyer to be commissioned in fiscal 2022 will be considered for introduction for the new Aegis destroyers, the sources said. Under the system, some 90 personnel will be put on duty per vessel in rotation, allowing other members to do training on the shore or take a rest.

In fiscal 2017, the ministry started to make Wi-Fi wireless communications services available aboard Aegis vessels, allowing SDF personnel to contact their family members and friends using their own smartphones. The new Aegis destroyers will likely be equipped with Wi-Fi services as well, the sources said. Previously, officers on duty on Aegis ships were only allowed to use email functions of shared computers in interacting with people outside of the ships.

The ministry will also consider actively using female officers for Aegis destroyer missions, according to the sources.

JIJI Press