Japan will strengthen with missiles, taking into account the tension in relations with China, which is constantly increasing - on April 11, the country announced large-scale plans for the development and production of modern long-range missiles, Defense News reports.
So, it is currently known that the Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries get contracts from the country's Defense Ministry for the development and serial production of missiles. This plan is calculated until 2027, the amount of the deal is announced at nearly 380 billion yen (U.S. $3 billion).
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How many missiles in total Japan plans to receive during this period is not disclosed, but it is noted that the production of missiles will be increased over the next five years - until 2027.
It is known that according to one of the signed contracts, the company should mass-produce two types of already existing missiles already this year. First, we are talking about the modernized Japanese Type 12 anti-ship missile - it is known that in December 2020 Japan agreed to develop an improved version of this missile with an emphasis primarily on the range, which is planned to be increased first from 200 to 900 km, and later to 1,500 km. Moreover, we are talking about different versions of the missile for ground platforms as well as for launching from ships and planes. The deployment of the missile is planned for 2026.
Secondly, it is about the production of hypersonic gliding missiles for the defense of the islands, which should be deployed in 2027 - probably the Hyper Velocity Gliding Projectile project.
Another contract involves submarine-launched long-range anti-ship guided missiles - development is expected to continue until 2027. Timing for deployment of the missiles is still undetermined.
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