This Dec 10, 2018 photo, provided by the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA), shows the launch of the US military's land-based Aegis missile defense testing system, that later intercepted an intermediate range ballistic missile, from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. (Mark Wright / Missile Defense Agency / AP)

Japan’s cabinet is set to approve as early as next month plans to build two new Aegis-equipped ships as missile interceptors after scuttling a proposal to place the defense system ashore, Kyodo News reported.

The estimated cost for the Aegis-equipped destroyers would be over 500 billion yen (US$4.8 billion), Kyodo News reported

If the plan is approved as early as mid-December, spending can be set aside for the sea-based missile interceptor platform in the fiscal 2021 budget to be drafted by year-end, Kyodo said Saturday, citing government sources it didn’t identify. The estimated cost for the Aegis-equipped destroyers would be over 500 billion yen (US$4.8 billion), it reported.

READ MORE: Japan halts deployment of Aegis Ashore missile defence system

In June, then-Defense Minister Taro Kono announced that the deployment of Lockheed Martin Corp’s Aegis Ashore missile defense system, with an estimated price tag of US$5 billion, would be canceled due to cost and safety concerns.

Kono’s replacement, Nobuo Kishi, said in October the government was considering a plan to install the components of the system on a mobile platform at sea. He also discussed options for the missile interceptor system that month with former US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.

There were plans earlier to deploy two onshore batteries in the prefectures of Yamaguchi and Akita, at either end of Japan’s main island of Honshu. Residents in both locations protested. Some argued the batteries could make them targets of any strike, and that booster stages from the interceptors could fall in their area, posing a risk for residents.

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Japan’s current missile-defense system relies on upper-tier interception by Aegis-equipped destroyers and lower altitude missiles being shot down by Patriot PAC-3 interceptors.

The ruling the Liberal Democratic Party has also proposed considering missile systems that would allow the country to preemptively hit enemy rockets before they leave the pad, seeing this as a defensive move.