Japan and the USA sign an agreement for a new type of anti-missile defense system – Observer

Japan and the United States signed an agreement this Wednesday that provides for the development by both countries of a new type of missile capable of intercepting hypersonic weapons in the 2030s.

This project, with a cost of more than 3,000 million dollars (2,758 million euros), was announced for the first time in August, when the leaders of the two countries met at a summit in Camp David, near Washington, a meeting that also included South Korea’s participation.

“In recent years, missile-related technologies, such as hypersonic weaponshave improved significantly around Japan”, declared the Ministry of Defense in a statement about this agreement.

“It is urgent to reinforce the interception capacity of these weapons”, he added.

O Japanese government has already allocated 75 billion yen (445 million euros) in its 2024 budget for the development of interceptor missiles.

The money is part of a record defense budget, approved last year, at a time of heightened tension with China and North Korea.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to double defense spending to reach the level established by NATO of 2% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2027.