器件短缺,日本的爱国者导弹生产,碰到问题了
U.S. plans to produce more Patriot air defense missiles — critical for Ukraine's defense against Russia — at Japanese factories is delayed by shortages of a crucial component made by Boeing, four unnamed sources told Reuters.
The U.S. is looking to increase production of the missiles from 500 annually to more than 750 globally as fast as possible, one source told Reuters. No expansion in Japan will be possible at all without additional missile seekers, the part that guides them in the final stages of the flight, sources said.
Under a contract from the defense contractor Lockheed Martin, the Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) currently produces around 30 PAC-3 missiles annually. MHI could up that figure to around 60, Japanese government officials and industry sources said.
But "it could take several years before MHI is able to raise output" as a result of the shortage, an industry source said.