Washington, May 3 (FN Agency) The United States and Japan will invest over $3 billion to jointly develop a new-type missile capable of intercepting hypersonic weapons, Japanese news agency Kyodo has reported, citing a US Missile Defense Agency official. Tokyo and Washington aim to complete the development of the missile by the 2030s, with Japan’s investment in the Glide Phase Interceptor project amounting to $1 billion, the agency cited the official as saying on Thursday. It will become the second joint missile development project of the US and Japan after the Standard Missile-3 Block 2A designed to intercept ballistic missiles, the report said.
The missile is planned to be capable of intercepting incoming hypersonic missiles during their most vulnerable glide phase of flight before reentering the atmosphere from space, Kyodo reported. The US is developing a constellation of small high-precision satellites to improve detection and tracking capabilities, the report said. The new missile would be deployed on US warships and destroyers of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force equipped with the Aegis missile defense system, the news agency reported. The development was agreed upon by US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in August 2023 ahead of a trilateral summit with their South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk-yeol, at Camp David near Washington.