Japanese media: Japan and the United States plan to jointly develop a hypersonic missile interception system
14.08.2023
The “Yomiuri Shimbun” and other Japanese media reported that Japan and the United States are expected to approve a plan this week to jointly develop a missile defense system to deal with hypersonic missiles from China, Russia and North Korea. This will be the second cooperation between Japan and the United States in the field of missile defense technology research and development.
(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) “Yomiuri Shimbun” reported on the 13th that when US President Biden met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida who was visiting the United States on the 12th, the two sides are expected to reach an agreement on jointly developing a missile interception system. However, the report did not mention the source of the above news. Reuters was unable to find an official to comment on the report given that Japan’s foreign ministry was closed.
When a traditional ballistic missile reenters the atmosphere from space and rushes toward its target, its trajectory is predictable. But hypersonic missiles are different, and their flight trajectories may change, making interception very difficult.
The “Yomiuri Shimbun” reported that President Biden will hold bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during the tripartite summit of the United States, Japan and South Korea held at Camp David, the presidential resort in Maryland. In January this year, US Secretary of State Blinken and Secretary of Defense Austin held a meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa and Defense Minister Yasuichi Hamada, and the issue of jointly developing a missile interception system was put on the agenda.
Conventional missile interception systems cannot cope with hypersonic weapon technology. The picture shows the Patriot PAC-3 system deployed in Okinawa.
Once an agreement is reached on the joint research and development of the missile interception system, it will be the second cooperation between Japan and the United States in the field of missile defense technology research and development. Washington and Tokyo have previously jointly developed a long-range missile that can knock out missiles in space. Japan deployed the missiles on warships cruising in waters near Japan and North Korea to guard against missile attacks from North Korea.
According to Nikkei Asia, Japan’s existing missile defense system is widely considered incapable of dealing with hypersonic missiles. The goal of Japan and the United States is to develop a new type of interception system with steering capabilities to intercept missiles that operate at low orbits at high speed and can change their flight trajectories.
China is said to have Successful test firing of a hypersonic weapon in 2021，Russia also claims to have used the weapon on the Ukrainian battlefield，North Korea is also conducting tests of hypersonic weapons.The progress made by China, Russia and North Korea in hypersonic missiles has put the United States, Japan and other countries under pressure to improve their deterrence and defense capabilities.
(Reuters, Nikkei Asia)
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2023-08-14 10:14:57
