US and Japan to collaborate on developing hypersonic missile interceptor technologies

Asia-Pacific, News, US March 21, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

The U.S. and Japan are exploring possibilities for collaboration for developing hypersonic missile interceptor technologies as the Pentagon enters into the early stages of the interceptor development program.

The hypersonic missile interceptor program would allow the neutralization of a hypersonic weapon during the glide phase of the flight.

Director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency Admiral John Hill recently announced that the agency is exploring possibilities to collaborate with the Japanese counterparts for Glide Phase Interceptor development, which is one of the top priorities amid the increasing threat posed the hypersonic weapons development.

“Right now, we’re exploring the opportunity to just identify what those cooperative development areas would be,” Hill said at a conference in Washington last week. “The easy way to go with Japan is to offer up propulsion stacks because they build the second stage and the third stage on the SM-3 block IIA today,” Hill explained.

A U.S.-based defense giant, Raytheon Technologies, is already in collaboration with Japanese defense firms on building its SM-3 block IIIA missile defense system that it aims to deploy in both Japan and the U.S. In 2018, Raytheon successfully intercepted a ballistic missile using the SM-3 block IIA, after two consecutive failures. Pentagon plans to pursue the SM-3 block IIA project further with Japan in order to develop a hypersonic interceptor missile defense system.

Two of the U.S. defense companies, Raytheon Technologies, and Northrop Grumman, won a contract to work on their own GPI design in June 2022. After the design has been approved, the two companies would have the option to collaborate with their Japanese counterparts for further development.

*^{Raytheon Hypersonic Missile Interceptor. (Image Credit: Raytheon Missile & Defense)}*

Hill said that ideally, the industry would willingly subcontract work to a Japanese company for agreed-upon components of the interceptor, but “if we can’t get to that, then we’ll do what we initially did in the SM-3 block IIA program, which is we directed the American company to go subcontract.”

Intercepting a hypersonic missile in its gliding phase is a highly difficult and technical procedure due to its speed and maneuverability capabilities. the missile travels at 5 times the speed of sound and can change its course during the flight making it extremely difficult sot predict its trajectory.

According to the initial reports, the Glide Phase Interceptor would be designed to fit into the U.S. Navy’s Aegis ballistic missile defense system. The weapon will fire from the standard vertical launching system and be integrated with the modified Baseline 9 Aegis Weapon System that detects tracks, controls, and engages hypersonic threats.

Earlier on January 12, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin after meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada meet at the Pentagon announced that the U.S. and Japan would work together on “emerging technology to improve defense capabilities, including technologies such as high-power microwaves, autonomous systems, and counter-hypersonics”.

^{U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin with Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada during a bilateral exchange at the Pentagon, on January 12, 2023. (Image Credit: U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jackie Sanders)}

The U.S. and Japan are also enhancing cooperation in science, aeronautics, and space technology. The United States plans to optimize its force posture and maintain a robust presence in the Indo-Pacific region.