USA and Japan jointly develop new missile against hypersonic weapons - Kyodo

According to the Pentagon and the Japanese Ministry of Defense, the total cost of joint development of a new type of missile will exceed $3 billion.

Japan will allocate a billion dollars of this amount. Both countries aim to complete the development of the missile by the first half of the 2030s, a representative of the US Missile Defense Agency says.

The joint development was agreed upon by President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last August before a trilateral summit with their South Korean counterpart at Camp David near Washington, DC.

The project comes at a time when China, North Korea, and Russia are actively developing hypersonic missiles.

This type of missile weapon flies at five times the speed of sound. They are also maneuverable and can change course during flight, making them difficult to destroy or track with radar.

The new project aims to shoot down hypersonic missiles in their most vulnerable planning phase before re-entering the atmosphere from space, compared to a traditional defense system that is designed to intercept missiles shortly before reaching their target.

Development of hypersonic weapons

In recent years, many countries have been working to develop their medium- and long-range hypersonic weapons.

For example, yesterday, May 2, China showed a video of a test of an analog of the Russian hypersonic missile Kinzhal. The missile is known as the 2PZD-21. The Chinese first showed their development in November last year during an international air show.

In addition, in April, it became known that the UK wanted to develop and put into service a hypersonic missile. The project is expected to be completed by 2030.

Moreover, even North Korea is trying to keep up with the development of hypersonics. Earlier it was reported that the DPRK had conducted ground tests of a solid-fuel engine for a new type of medium-class hypersonic rocket.