The U.S. and Japanese governments are getting close to finalizing an agreement to jointly develop and build a hypersonic missile defense interceptor, a military official said.
Director of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Air Force Lt. Gen. Heath Collins on Thursday said, “it’s maturing quite well. [in] our discussions with Japan, we’re looking to have a signed agreement in the coming months very shortly with Japan on moving forward as a co-development [program].”
Last year, former MDA head Vice Adm. Jon Hill said DoD was exploring cooperative development and production of the in-development Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI) with Japan along the lines of the Standard Missile (SM)-3 Block IIA (Defense Daily, March 16, 2023).
Speaking during the annual McAleese Defense Systems Program, Collins confirmed it will still operate similar to the SM-3 IIA, with portions of the interceptor “co-developed and manufactured on the Japanese side, along with the rest from the U.S. side.”
MDA awarded contracts to Raytheon Technologies [RTX], Northrop Grumman [NOC] and Lockheed Martin [LMT] for GPI development and concept refinement starting in 2021 (Defense Daily, Nov. 22, 2021).
In 2022 MDA downselected with Raytheon and Northrop Grumman to continue the work (Defense Daily, June 24, 2022).
Since then, MDA has awarded the competitors modifications to continue GPI concept refinement work.
The GPI program aims to intercept hypersonic maneuvering missiles in the glide phase. Collins reiterated that currently only the sea-based SM-6 weapons can provide some terminal-based defense against hypersonic capabilities to defend a small region or naval group.
Last year, Hill said he favored funding to accelerate GPI deployment once it proceeds past risk reduction and Milestone A (Defense Daily, April 21, 2023).
The FY 2024 defense authorization act pushed the agency to work faster on GPI. It directs MDA to reach initial operational capability (IOC) by the end of 2029, fielding at least 12 interceptor missiles” (Defense Daily, Dec. 21, 2023).
It is also directed to reach full operational capability (FOC) by the end of 2032 with at least 24 interceptors.
The law also authorized MDA to enter into a cooperative development agreement with U.S. partner countries on GPI FOC.
On Thursday, Collins affirmed GPI is still in the competitive technology development phase.