The Japanese government is considering supplying the archipelago with hypersonic missiles by 2030 to increase deterrent power in the current scenario of rising geopolitical tensions, the Nikkei newspaper reported Thursday.
The decision will be taken during the review of the country’s security plan at the end of the year, and the country is expected to rearm in the context of the war in Ukraine, China’s growing influence in the region and the development of weapons in Korea From the North.
This morning (early Lisbon morning), the North Korean regime fired three missiles, one of which set off anti-aircraft alerts in various parts of the Japanese archipelago.
Hypersonic missiles can fly about five times the speed of sound, or more, and with a trajectory that makes them difficult to shoot down.
Some members of Japan’s ruling party have reiterated their arguments for not only strengthening missile intercept capabilities, but also acquiring counter-attack capabilities.
Government sources have previously disclosed to local media, among other things, the acquisition of US Tomahawk cruise missiles, with details set to be officially released with the new plan.
Russia has operational hypersonic missiles since 2019 and fired one from a submarine in 2021. And according to Japanese authorities, China will have started using them by 2020.
The United States has yet to develop 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 begun work on the technology needed to develop them and is committed to further research into hypersonic missiles in 2023, the paper said.
The Prime Minister’s government, Fumio Kishida, plans to adopt a new National Security Strategy by the end of the year, which would formalize the aforementioned “counter-attack capability” concept, 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 countries’ spending in the BORN.
Source: DN
