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will be Lockheed Martin. required for future launches was One of the planned military appli-
also confirmed, so they will continue cations of this technology is the
“By pursuing an agree- to conduct staged performance con- development of a hypersonic cruise
ment on GPI development, firmation, including launch tests,” he missile, and high-speed glide
bombs for island defence. “We also
added.
the U.S. and Japan will want to develop high-speed glide
strengthen regional deter- Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman bombs, with long ranges and make
rence while enhancing Corporation also said it will sup- them capable of traveling at super-
sonic speeds and high altitudes
long-standing missile port the U.S.-Japan cooperative from various points in the country to
defence cooperation development agreement to build deal with threats,” he said.
capabilities defending against
between the two coun- hypersonic missiles, strengthening
tries,” a U.S. DoD official noted. overall missile defence deterrence. About Japan’s BMD
“We are combining the technical
strength of our two countries to Japan’s ballistic missile defence
The U.S. Missile Defence Agency develop an effective counter-hyper- (BMD) is basically supported by
is leading the development of sonic solution,” said Mike Pinkston, an effective multi-layered defence
GPI for the DoD, which will pro- vice president of launch vehicles, system composed of the upper tier
vide hypersonic missile defence Northrop Grumman. “We are com- interception by Aegis-equipped
capability during the glide-phase mitted to investing in technology destroyers and the lower tier
portion of hypersonic flight. As per that delivers the capabilities our interception by Patriot Advanced
the cooperation agreement, Japan customers need now to respond to Capability-3 (PAC-3), both of which
will lead the development of rocket growing threats.” are interconnected and coordinated
motors and propulsion components by the Japan Aerospace Defence
of GPI. GPI will deliver a regional Under the GPI Cooperative Ground Environment (JADGE).
defensive capability over time as Development agreement, the
part of a holistic layered defensive U.S. Missile Defence Agency and
architecture. The GPI co-develop- Northrop Grumman will collabo- Japan has begun developing its
ment will build upon long-standing rate with the Japanese Ministry of Missile Defence (MD) system since
U.S.-Japan missile defence coop- Defence and its industry partners to JFY2004 to be fully prepared for the
eration and strengthen the alliance develop elements of the interceptor. response against ballistic missile
deterrence posture, the DoD official The Japanese-provided systems attacks. Japan has steadily built up
added. will be integrated into the GPI All- its own defence system against bal-
Up-Round. The agreement stems listic missile attacks, by such means
On July 4, 2024, the Defence from the 2023 U.S.-Japan bilateral as installing ballistic missile defence
capability in the Aegis destroyers
Logistics Agency released for the Memorandum of Understanding for and deploying PAC-3.
first time a video of the launch of a Research, Development, Test and
test missile of a new type of mis- Evaluation Projects and builds upon
sile scheduled to be deployed to an established relationship between For a response to ballistic missiles,
the Ground Self-Defence Force, a the U.S. and Japan. the Self Defence Forces (SDF)
high-speed glide missile for island maintains multi-layered air defence
defence. The high-speed glide mis- Hypersonic System system with 8 Aegis equipped
sile is a long-range missile, which Recently, Kasugahara Daiki, destroyers and PAC-3 units across
after being launched by a booster, assistant commissioner of ATLA the country. SDF also maneuvers
flies and glides at the targets. had said that “under the stand-off and deploys those vessels and
According to the Defence Logistics defence capabilities, Japan’s effort units that are allocated for stationed
Agency, the test released this time to develop a hypersonic system sites’ air defence to respond to the
was conducted in California on is at its initial research stage. We situation. When destruction mea-
March 23, 2024. envisage an early realization of the sures against ballistic missiles, etc.
system and make it operational are ordered, the Joint Task Force
Japan and the U.S. will continue within the next 10 years.” “Various (JTF) -BMD will be organized with
to carry out more firing tests for research and tests, including the Commander of the Air Defence
performance confirmation, the ATLA combustion flight tests, are being Command serving as the JTF
official informed. It also helped to carried out, aimed at developing Commander, and effective defence
“confirm the measurement system.” scramjet engine technologies for measures will be taken under a uni-
Additionally, the “performance the system,” Daiki said. fied command through JADGE..

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