US approves support for Japan’s hypersonic missile project

As Japan continues development of hypersonic missiles, the US State Department has approved the possible provision of “Hyper Velocity Gliding Projectiles Capability Support” according to a 10th March announcement from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. 

The sale, if approved, is estimated to be valued up to $200 million, although the final amount will likely be lower. It will include “equipment and services in support of [Japan’s] indigenous Hyper Velocity Gliding Projectiles (HVGP) capability, including test preparation, test, and transportation support,” the press release states.

Japan’s National Defense Strategy published in 2022 describes the HVGP project as a stand-off capability that is part of a multi-layered approach. The approach is designed to “deal with vessels and landing forces invading Japan, including its remote islands, from locations outside of threat zones.” It is understood to be a hypersonic glide vehicle that can be ground or ship-launched. There is also later scope for an air-launched variant, according to the defence strategy. 

The project was initiated in 2018 with an anticipated development timeline extending out to 2030 for all variants of the HVGP. It is expected to have a range of 900 km with later increments extending this to 3,000 km. Test launches have been conducted in the US with a launch publicised in 2024. 

Japan’s MoD has also indicated that the missiles are already in production, despite still being in development. This may refer in part to the infrastructure needed to produce hypersonic glide vehicles and test them. Even in the US, which has several well-funded hypersonic programmes, development of the production infrastructure is proving difficult. 

This is accompanied by a focused effort on improving the country’s ability to find targets. Precision strike systems need a precision find capability – this typically means high quality satellite imagery and drone based sensors. But can also include signals intelligence like the US Army’s HADES airborne ISR platform. Targeting and command and control is expected to be concentrated into an integrated command cell, the Japanese MoD reports. It will also invest in further magazines to store its stand-off weapons and an integrated air and missile defence network to blunt adversary missile strikes. 

Calibre comment

Japan’s multi-layer approach likely includes the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, 400 of which it procured in 2024. Moreover, the Type 12 supersonic anti-ship missile used by Japan will also be developed to include a land-attack role. The HVGP as well as another “hypersonic guided missile” would serve to provide an additional attack approach, complicating China’s air defence picture. It is likely intended to strike primary surface vessels like aircraft carriers or troop carrying ships, as well as Chinese naval bases. The development of glide vehicles is a challenging aspect of emerging stand-off strike capabilities, with many issues like guidance and scale yet to be resolved. The cost of testing hypersonic missiles has led to a separate US project to develop a cheaper testing system, which was awarded to Kratos in January 2025.