The US and Japan are anticipated to announce an settlement this week to collectively develop missile interceptors able to taking pictures down hypersonic weapons from China, Russia and North Korea.
Joe Biden and Fumio Kishida, the Japanese prime minister, will meet in Washington DC on Friday, the place a deal is more likely to be mentioned.
The pair will meet on the sidelines of a trilateral summit with Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea’s president, at Camp David, based on a Sunday report in Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper.
Washington and Tokyo agreed in January 2022 to work extra intently within the analysis and growth of defence applied sciences, together with methods to counter hypersonic missiles.
Hypersonic missiles have the benefits of quick flight – travelling at 5 instances the pace of sound or extra. However their key options are their elevated manoeuvrability, and their means to fly at decrease altitudes than ballistic missiles, making it tough to trace and counter them. Interceptors would want to fly lengthy distances at excessive speeds and have the ability to change course to reply to adjustments in a hypersonic weapon’s flight path.
China is considered forward of the US in growing hypersonics, whereas Russia has additionally demonstrated its arsenal in Ukraine, putting Kyiv simply final week.