US-Japan Hypersonic System to Shield Against Beijing Threat: Expert

The U.S. Department of Defense launches a sounding rocket from NASA's launch range at Wallops Flight Facility carrying hypersonic weapon experiments that will inform the development of the hypersonic class of weapons, on Wallops Island, Va., on Oct. 26, 2022. Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

President Joe Biden and the leaders of South Korea and Japan agreed to deepen trilateral security ties while condemning the Chinese communist regime during a historic summit at Camp David on Aug. 18.

The United States announced after the summit that Japan would participate in developing its hypersonic weapons interceptor missile “Glide Phase Interceptor” (GPI), which is to be equipped on Aegis-equipped ships.

Hypersonic weapons fly at supersonic speeds of Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound) or above and are difficult to detect and intercept by radar. Deemed as a new generation of weapons with the potential to change the paradigm of warfare, hypersonic weapons are currently developed in many countries.

“After the end of the Cold War, the United States lost its competitors and devoted its efforts to the war on terror against extremist religious elements. The development of some strategic weapons was stalled or slowed, including hypersonic missiles and high-performance missile defense systems,” Tony Xia, a military expert and commentator, told The Epoch Times.

“That’s why the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] expanded its ambitions and rose to become the U.S.’s top competitor, requiring the United States to recalibrate its military development strategy.

“The anti-U.S. stance of the CCP and North Korea and the development of nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles [ICBMs] exposed the U.S. homeland to weapons of mass destruction for the first time since the Cold War. Early defenses against the former Soviet Union’s ICBMs are no longer capable of handling multiple warheads with variable trajectory capabilities today, which is why the U.S. launched the Next Generation Interceptor [NGI] program in 2004.”

Most of the NGI’s performance and usage are similar to the U.S. Army’s existing Ground-Based Interceptor and Ground-Based Midcourse Defense systems, according to Mr. Xia.

“The difference is that it incorporates a new generation of sensors and flight control technology, which gives it the ability to intercept any of its adversary’s multi-warhead hypersonic missiles with a much higher success rate. It can destroy multiple warheads of multiple incoming missiles at one time, which is difficult to do with previous defense systems, and it is even regarded as a ‘never-fail’ defense system,” he said.

What Does Japan’s Involvement Mean?

Mr. Xia, who has spent more than 10 years in the military, believes that the U.S.-Japan cooperation this time further highlights regional defense.

“Due to Japan’s close proximity to China and North Korea, if Japan can deploy NGI in the future, it will be able to detect and intercept enemy missiles at the earliest stage of launch, which will further increase the success rate of interception and put more pressure on the adversary,” he said.

“This is equivalent to removing the nuclear threat of the CCP and North Korea.”

A Philippine Coast Guard rigid hull inflatable boat passes by the Japanese Coast Guard Akitsushima (PLH-32) during a trilateral Coast Guard drill of the U.S., Japan, and Philippines, near the waters of the disputed South China See in Bataan province, Philippines, on June 6, 2023. Aaron Favila/AP Photo

This is the second time that the United States and Japan have jointly developed an interceptor missile after the improved SM3 Block 2AII.

In November 2020, the U.S. destroyer test-fired an SM-3 Block IIA missile, successfully destroying an experimental intercontinental ballistic missile. The event, designated Flight Test Aegis Weapon System-44 (FTM-44), was a successful test of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) System-equipped destroyer using an SM-3 Block IIA missile.

What Is the Aegis BMD System?

The Aegis BMD System is the naval component of the U.S. missile defense system. Aegis-equipped ships receive tracking data through the Command Control Battle Management Communications (C2BMC) network system, construct fire control solutions, and then launch and direct SM-3 series missiles to destroy incoming targets.

“In essence, it is still a change in system integration, an upgrade on the basis of the original weapon system, and its significance lies in the extension of the land-based weapon system to the sea,” said Mr. Xia.

“Yet the NGI is a technological breakthrough, a revolution in sensor and control technology, and more lethal to incoming ICBMs.”

Trilateral Summit Targeting CCP Threat

Regarding to Japanese media’s opinion that the trilateral summit will expand the focus of confrontation from North Korea to the vast area of China and Russia, Mr. Xia believes that the focus should be on the threat of the CCP’s expansion.

A Chinese military jet flies over Pingtan island, one of mainland China's closest point from Taiwan, in Fujian province, on Aug. 5, 2022. Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images

“North Korea is only a regional accomplice of the CCP and Russia, and it does not constitute a major threat, but it’s making a lot of noise in the Korean Peninsula,” he said. “It’s got a high-risk factor. It’s a major threat to South Korea and Japan, but those threats are fundamentally from the CCP.”

Mr. Xia, who has been engaging in military teaching and technical management, does not agree that Russia is tied to the CCP and North Korea.

“Russia has fallen to the CCP because it was forced to do so by the wrong [Ukraine] war,” he said. “Both Russia and China understand that their relationship is one of mutual utilization.”

“The notion that their friendship has no upper limit is a falsehood. In reality, their friendship is temporary, and their struggle is permanent.”