Japan and the United States join forces to defend against hypersonic missiles

Japan and the United States have announced their intention to jointly develop missile systems to intercept hypersonic weapons being actively developed by Russia, China, and North Korea. This news was published in the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri, citing its sources.

The main purpose of this cooperation is to increase readiness against modern threats that are difficult to respond to with existing missile defense systems. According to the newspaper, senior officials familiar with the intentions of both countries hope to reach an agreement at the Japan-U.S. summit scheduled for August 18.

"The governments of Japan and the United States are planning to jointly develop a new interceptor missile within the next 10 years," the report states.

This development project will be the second joint venture between Tokyo and Washington in the field of missile defense, following the successful completion of the SM3 Block 2A joint project in 2017.

Hypersonic weapons are characterized by very high speed, which can exceed five times the speed of sound. In addition, these weapons systems operate at low altitudes along unpredictable trajectories, making them difficult to detect by radar and intercept.

It is important to note that China successfully tested hypersonic missiles in July 2021, while Russia used similar weapons during the conflict with Ukraine. North Korea has also been testing hypersonic missiles, with the most recent tests from September 2021. Some analysts claim that samples of such weapons tested in January 2010 flew at a speed of about Mach 10.