REUTERS/Tim KellyTOKYO, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Japan and the U.S. will agree this week to jointly develop an interceptor missile to counter hypersonic warheads being developed by China, Russia and North Korea, Japan's Yomiuri newspaper said on Sunday.
Officials at Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs could not be reached for comment outside business hours.
Unlike typical ballistic warheads, which fly on predictable trajectories as they fall from space to their targets, hypersonic projectiles can change course, making them more difficult to target.
An agreement would be the second such collaboration in missile defence technology.
Washington and Tokyo developed a longer-range missile designed to hit warheads in space, which Japan is deploying on warships in the sea between Japan and the Korean peninsula to guard against North Korean missiles strikes.
Persons:
Marine's Camp Foster, Tim Kelly TOKYO, Joe Biden, Fumio Kishida, Biden, Yoon Suk, Antony Blinken, Lloyd Austin, Yoshimasa Hayashi, Yasukazu Hamada, Tim Kelly, William Mallard
Organizations:
U.S, Marine's, REUTERS, Japan's Yomiuri, Japanese, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yomiuri, North Korean, Thomson
Locations:
Ginowan, Okinawa, Japan, U.S, China, Russia, North Korea, Camp David, Maryland, Washington, Tokyo