Japan wants to develop ‘supersonic’ guided missile that can dodge threats, strike land targets
If the weapons are designed to destroy targets on land, it would be the first time that Japan would have possessed such a capability
Japan wants to develop its own “supersonic” guided missiles that can strike targets on land and at sea.
The Defence Ministry initially requested Y7.7 billion (US$685 million) in its budget for fiscal 2018 to develop a guided missile that would be designed to eliminate enemy ships that threatened Japanese sovereignty over “remote islands”.
Tokyo refuses to identify the foreign power that is sees as a threat to Japanese territory, but it is widely assumed to refer to the Diaoyu archipelago, which Japan presently controls and refers to as the Senkaku Islands. Beijing insists that the uninhabited islands are its territory.
The ministry now appears to want to give the new missiles added capabilities. If the weapons are designed to also be able to destroy targets on land, it would be the first time that Japan would have possessed such a capability.
The new weapons are being designed to be launched from a variety of platforms, including ground-based trailers, destroyers, fighter aircraft and long-range maritime patrol aircraft, which Tokyo apparently hopes will also serve as a deterrent to North Korea.
