The Japanese government is considering equipping the archipelago with hypersonic missiles by 2030, to increase its deterrent power in the current scenario of growing geopolitical tension, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Thursday.
The decision will be made during the review of the country’s security plan, not the end of the year, hoping that the country will rearm in the context of the war in Ukraine, the growing influence of China in the region and the development of weapons in Korea. north.
This morning (dawn in Lisbon), the North Korean regime launched three missiles, one of which triggered anti-aircraft alerts in various areas of the Japanese archipelago.
Hypersonic missiles can fly about five times faster than the speed of sound, or more, and with a trajectory that makes them difficult to shoot down.
Some members of the ruling party in Japan have reiterated arguments in favor of strengthening not only missile interception capabilities, but also acquiring counter-attack capabilities.
Government sources have previously disclosed to local media, among other possibilities, the acquisition of US Tomahawk cruise missiles, and details will be officially released with the new plan.
Russia has had operational hypersonic missiles since 2019 and fired one from a submarine in 2021. And according to Japanese officials, China will have started using them in 2020.
The United States has not yet developed such a missile, which it is currently working on with the intention of doing so by the middle of this decade.
Japan’s Defense Ministry has already started work on the technology needed to develop them and is committed to moving toward further research of hypersonic missiles in 2023, the newspaper said.
The Government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to approve a new National Security Strategy at the end of the year, which would formalize the aforementioned concept of “counter-attack capacity”, among other innovations aimed at strengthening the national military potential.
As part of this rearmament trend, the Kishida administration is expected to lay the groundwork for an increase in the defense budget to about 2% of Japan’s gross domestic product, from the current 1%, which would bring it in line with spending. of the countries of the BORN.
Source: TSF
