The United States and Japan are brewing new actions, mentioning weapons from China, Russia, and North Korea | intercepting missiles | China and Russia
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun on August 13th, the governments of Japan and the United States have established a policy of jointly developing a new type of interception missile for hypersonic weapons, and an agreement is expected to be reached at the Japan US summit on the 18th.
The report points out that this move is aimed at preventing threats that existing missile defense networks are unable to cope with and strengthening "deterrence".
Several Japanese government officials have confirmed the above news. The interception missile jointly developed by Japan and the United States will be the second missile since the completion of the "Standard" - IIIA missile in 2017. During the Japan US South Korea summit scheduled for the 18th, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will also hold separate talks with US President Biden. Currently, coordination is underway on the release of joint development of interceptor missiles as part of the agreement.
The report points out that hypersonic weapons can perform orbital maneuvers at low altitudes at speeds of over 5 times the speed of sound, making interception even more difficult to capture with existing radar.
The report states that China has successfully tested hypersonic weapons, and Russia has also used these weapons on the Ukrainian battlefield. Since September 2021, North Korea has conducted multiple hypersonic weapon tests. Some analysts believe that during the test launch in January 2022, North Korea's hypersonic missile reached a maximum flight speed of 10 times the speed of sound.
According to reports, the Japanese Ministry of Defense is striving to enhance the performance of the Ground Self Defense Force's Type 03 medium range surface to air missile in response to hypersonic weapons from China, Russia, and North Korea. The new missile "Standard" -6, mounted on the Aegis ship of the Maritime Self Defense Force, also has a certain interception capability. However, the above-mentioned interception missiles are all terminal interceptions, and the top priority is to have means to implement interception in further areas.
The report points out that the governments of Japan and the United States plan to develop a new type of interception missile within ten years.
To intercept hypersonic weapons, it is necessary to establish a situation that can detect and track incoming missiles at an earlier stage. The United States is accelerating the layout of satellite constellations, and the Japanese Ministry of Defense is also interested in establishing cooperation with the United States' satellite network.
According to reports, the Japanese government is also seeking to have a "counterattack capability", and hopes to accelerate the construction of long-range missiles with counterattack capabilities while jointly developing new interception missiles, in order to establish a "comprehensive air defense missile defense" situation as soon as possible.