Japan Naval Officer Found Guilty Of Defence Leak

The Aegis radar system developed by the United States is used on U.S. and Japanese missile defence ships.

A Japanese court found a navy officer guilty of leaking classified data about a high-tech radar system used by U.S. and Japanese warships, domestic media reported on Tuesday.

The 35-year-old lieutenant commander was given a two and half year suspended sentence for passing on classified information about the Aegis radar system to a colleague who was not authorised to handle such data, Kyodo News Agency reported.

The conviction is the first under a 1954 law governing leakage of highly confidential information about weapons and ships given to Japan by the United States, local media said.

The Aegis radar system developed by the United States is used on U.S. and Japanese missile defence ships.

The court also said the case highlighted weaknesses in the naval information management system, Kyodo reported.

"The management of secret information was inappropriate," said Keiji Akahoshi, Chief of Staff for Japan's Self Defence Force.

"There is a possibility that this has cast some shadow on the U.S.-Japan alliance, and I apologise for this once again."

The data, which included "special defence secrets", had been prepared for use in training courses for cadets who would be dealing with Aegis ships equipped with high-tech anti-air defence systems, the navy has said last year.