US and Japan to build new hypersonic missile interceptors

U.S. and Japan plan defensive measure against hypersonic missiles – looming threat from China, Russia and North Korea?

Japan and the United States are moving forward, according to information from Reuters, is considering developing an interceptor missile that could be used against hypersonic warheads produced by countries such as China, Russia and North Korea. The Japanese newspaper Yomiuri had reported that such an agreement could be concluded this week, without disclosing the source of its information.

According to Reuters, there will be a trilateral summit in the U.S. this week, with U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol meeting. An earlier meeting in January between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi had already discussed the development of such a missile, he said. Such an agreement, Reuters notes, would represent the second cooperation on missile defense technology.

It is pointed out that the two countries have already developed a longer-range missile capable of intercepting warheads in space in the past. Japan already uses this technology on its warships to protect itself from potential missile attacks from North Korea, it said.

Image: U.S. Air Force / Christopher Okula, AGM-183A ARRW on a B-52, June 2019 (190612-F-HP195-0014) (cropped), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, (no changes made)