Recently, a Japanese military magazine broke the news that the Japanese Ministry of Defense has formulated an ambitious arms research and development plan to develop a hypersonic missile that can be used for standoff strikes.
It is said that there are two different versions of this missile, namely Block 2A and Block 2B, each of which has different technical characteristics and combat capabilities.
The base model, the Block 2A, is designed to have a range of between 1,000 and 2,000 kilometers, a maximum flight speed of Mach 12, and the ability to maneuver and change orbits.
On the surface, this is a hypersonic missile, but in fact it is a huge gap compared to the PLA missile of the same model. In particular, in terms of precision targeting, Block 2A needs to rely on the support of external systems, and it needs to be jointly provided by the unmanned aerial system and the ground guidance officer during the attack phase to accurately hit the target.
The improved Block 2B has a certain increase in performance, with a range of 3,000 kilometers and a flight speed of an astonishing Mach 17.
This leap in performance has allowed Block 2B to greatly expand its range to include many important cities along China's eastern coast, such as Shanghai. Clearly, this design intent is indicative of Japan's role in the regional security landscape and its response to potential threats.
This provides a glimpse of Japan's sense of urgency and response to the international security environment. As tensions rise in the region, Japan intends to enhance its deterrence and self-defense capabilities in the face of potential threats by enhancing its military strike capabilities.
At present, although the technical level of Block 2A needs to be improved, its research and development has already shown a solid step forward in the field of hypersonic **. The emergence of Block 2B is a qualitative leap forward, which will undoubtedly bring Japan a more powerful and flexible strategic strike option.
However, the outside world is not optimistic about the hypersonic missile program announced by the Japanese Ministry of Defense.
Since 2018, Japan has been working on hypersonic** research and development, and the budget for fiscal year 2019 explicitly included research and development funds for scramjet engines.
According to the plan of the Japanese Ministry of Defense, Japan will simultaneously promote the development of hypersonic cruise missiles (HCM) and hypersonic glide missiles (HVGP) in the future. These two first-class systems have their own characteristics, but they all have the common advantages of high-speed flight, strong penetration capabilities and precision strikes.
The HVGP uses a hypersonic boost-glide approach, similar to the hypersonic speed** currently being developed in Russia, China, and the United States. HVGP mainly uses the ground launch booster rocket, so that the warhead is separated in the higher atmosphere, and then glides in the atmosphere at hypersonic speed and maneuvers to change orbit, so as to avoid the detection and attack of the interception system.
However, the study of hypersonic missiles is extremely difficult, and Japan's wind tunnel testing capacity is currently only Mach 10, while countries such as the United States, Russia and China can achieve a staggering Mach 30.
This means that Japan has a large technological gap compared to these countries when it comes to simulating and verifying the best performance in hypersonic conditions.
In addition, considering Japan's status as a defeated country in history, its development of hypersonic speed is not only a technical challenge, but also may bring uncertainty about regional security, triggering alarm and reaction from neighboring countries.
Therefore, the development of hypersonic ** is not only a technological competition, but also a link that cannot be ignored in strategic balance and regional stability. Previously, Japan had also promoted the development of the "Shinshin" fifth-generation aircraft, but it was unsuccessful, and considering Japan's shortcomings in military technology, this plan is likely to end in failure like the "Shinshin".