US, Japan to develop hypersonic missile interceptor: Report
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Unlike typical ballistic warheads, hypersonic projectiles can change course, making them more difficult to target.
PHOTO: AFP
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TOKYO - Japan and the United States will agree this week to jointly develop an interceptor missile to counter hypersonic warheads being developed by China, Russia and North Korea, Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper said on Sunday.
The agreement on interceptors to target weapons designed to evade existing ballistic missile defences is expected when US President Joe Biden meets Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the US
Officials at Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs could not be reached for comment outside business hours.
Unlike typical ballistic warheads, which fly on predictable trajectories as they fall from space to their targets, hypersonic projectiles can change course, making them more difficult to target.
Mr Biden and Mr Kishida are to meet on the sidelines of a trilateral summit with South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, the Yomiuri said.
The US and Japan agreed in January to consider developing the interceptor at a meeting between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Japanese counterparts, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada.
An agreement would be the second such collaboration in missile defence technology.
Washington and Tokyo developed a longer-range missile designed to hit warheads in space. Japan is deploying that missile on warships in the sea between Japan and the Korean peninsula to guard against North Korean missile strikes. REUTERS
