U.S. and Japan to spend $3 billion to develop a missile to intercept hypersonic weapons

The United States and Japan will spend $3 billion to jointly develop a new missile capable of intercepting hypersonic weapons, Japan's Kyodo News reported.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed on the project ahead of last year's trilateral summit with their South Korean counterpart at Camp David, near Washington.

The effort is in response to China, Russia, and North Korea's aggressive pursuit of hypersonic capabilities, Kyodo News said.

The new defensive missile is planned to be completed by the 2030s.

The newly designed missile should be able to neutralize incoming hypersonic missiles during the most vulnerable phase of their flight - before they re-enter the atmosphere from space.

This differentiates them from conventional missile defense systems designed to intercept missiles shortly before they reach their targets, Kyodo News said.

Read also: Ukraine capable of shooting down Russian Zircon hypersonic missiles - Air Force

This marks the second cooperation between Japan and the U.S. in the development of an interceptor missile following the Standard Missile-3 Block 2A.

Also known as The RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 (SM-3), it is a ship-based surface-to-air missile used by the United States Navy to intercept short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles.

The missiles are also currently used by Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force.

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