Japan to Develop Its Own Missile Defense System for Army

Japan’s Ministry of Defense has signed an agreement to develop and test a modernized Type-03 surface-to-air missile system with the capability to intercept ballistic and hypersonic missiles.

The Ministry of Defense’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) reported on this, according to the Military Japan Telegram channel.

Under the contract, missile tests of the new system will be conducted in the United States to verify its performance and its ability to intercept the specified target types.

The agreement was signed on October 16, 2025, with the U.S. Department of the Army. Preparations for the tests are valued at $39.2 million.

According to the schedule, development and testing will continue from fiscal years 2023 to 2027, with live testing planned for 2025-2028. Deployment of the system is expected in the 2030s.

Technical specifications of the new system have not been disclosed.

The project aims to provide Japan’s ground forces with an indigenous missile defense capability comparable to the Patriot systems operated by the Air Self-Defense Force, or the naval SM-2 and SM-6 systems, capable of intercepting short-range ballistic missiles and hypersonic targets.

The new system will build on the existing Type-03 surface-to-air missile concept and will be mounted on an eight-wheel Mitsubishi Kato truck chassis.

Mitsubishi is currently producing upgraded versions of the Type-03 Kai. In terms of performance, the system is comparable to the European SAMP/T.

It is equipped with a missile featuring an active radar seeker, capable of engaging targets at ranges of roughly 100–120 kilometers.

The missile has a launch weight of about 454 kg and a length of 4.9 meters.

Militarnyi previously reported that Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force signed two contracts with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Toshiba to develop a surface-to-air guided missile based on an air-to-air missile design.