Camp David: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed Friday that their countries will jointly develop a new interceptor missile to counter threats from hypersonic weapons developed by China, North Korea and Russia.

Hypersonic weapons travel at more than five times the speed of sound with irregular trajectories at relatively low altitudes, making them difficult to intercept with existing missile defense systems.

The joint development will be carried out through Japan’s participation in the U.S. Glide Phase Interceptor development program.

Development is aimed for completion in the 2030s. It is the second time for the two countries to jointly create an interceptor missile since the development of the Standard Missile-3 Block 2A.

At their meeting at the Camp David U.S. presidential retreat near Washington, Kishida and Biden also agreed to cooperate closely in dealing with China’s increasing maritime activities, and on the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

They also discussed cooperation on measures against disinformation about Japan’s plan to release treated water from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the ocean.

The two leaders agreed that the Group of Seven major democracies and like-minded countries should keep united in imposing tough sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and providing strong support to Ukraine.

JIJI Press