JAPAN has decided to suspend a plan to deploy the US-developed Aegis Ashore missile defence system, designed to counter the threat of North Korean ballistic missiles.
Defence Minister Taro Kono said the decision to shelve the project was mainly due to technical problems and ballooning costs.
"When considering the costs and the time frame, we have no choice but to decide it was not logical to keep the original schedule," Kono said.
The Japanese government first decided in 2017 to deploy two Aegis Ashore batteries and the United States State Department approved the sale of the system, which initially had an estimated price tag of US$2.15 billion.
But a slew of problems has raised the estimated costs of operating it for 30 years to over US$4 billion.
A Kyodo News report said the purchase of the costly batteries was decided by Japan after a series of ballistic missiles launched by North Korea and US President Donald Trump's push to sell more military equipment under the "Buy American" policy.
The Japanese government has so far spent or allocated nearly 200 billion yen in total for the deployment plan.
According Nikkei Asian Review, the project is seen as a symbol of the strengthening alliance between Japan and the US.
The ministry is expected to submit a report to Japan's National Security Council and formally halt the programme soon.
Japan currently has a two-tier approach to missile defence; a ship-based Aegis system that takes a first crack at shooting down missiles while they are in the so called post-boost phase of flight, and a land-based Patriot system to destroy them when they are in the re-entry phase.
But deploying the ship-based system is burdensome, especially in terms of manpower, so Tokyo has pursued a land-based alternative for the Aegis.
The original plan called for installing the land-based missile shield at one site in eastern Japan and another in the west as a deterrent against North Korean rocket attacks. The US-developed system was expected to be operational as early as 2025.
In the west, Aegis Ashore would be hosted within the Mutsumi training area in Yamaguchi Prefecture. But it was revealed late last month that much hardware modification work will be needed to ensure that booster rockets carrying interceptors fall in the training area or the sea, and not in residential neighbourhoods.
The Defence Ministry chose the Araya military training grounds in Akita city for eastern Japan, but those plans were thrown into disarray after a series of problems.
The site, near a residential area, was selected from Google Earth, not an actual survey on the ground, resulting in measurement errors.
At a briefing with city residents, a defense official fell asleep, angering participants. The governor and mayor both came out in opposition to the deployment.
The plan was also unpopular with residents concerned about the health effects of electromagnetic waves emitted by Aegis Ashore's radar, as well as the possibility of their communities becoming a target in an armed conflict.
Following the announcement, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan said Japan was "pressed by the US to buy an expensive item and blamed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for it.
Negative reactions also came from lawmakers of the Liberal Democratic Party, led by Abe.