The inclusion of space-based interceptors is a particularly hard nut for Moscow to swallow, given long-standing Russian belief that such weapons are aimed at undercutting the country’s nuclear retaliatory capability following a US first strike.
Washington and Tokyo hope to nail down co-funding details for the Glide Phase Interceptor by next year, according to a Pentagon spokesperson.
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MDA Acting Director Rear Adm. Doug Williams said that the agency's plans include beginning tests of its Next-Generation Interceptor in 2027, "with the anticipation of operational testing of NGI at the end of 2029."
The agreement is designed to both stabilize and low costs of the supply chain under Raytheon's long-running contracts with the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the Navy.
The joint venture on the SM-3 Block IIA interceptor between Raytheon and the Japanese defense industry could point the way for international defense cooperation in the future.
By 2021, plans call for Japan to have eight Aegis destroyers, four of them capable of launching the SM-3 Block IIA missiles, whose second successful test in a row comes as a vindication after two previous failures.
Modeling and simulation get an AI upgrade for more realistic training and improved autonomous platforms.