Japan Reveals New Hypersonic Glide Vehicle Flight Tests
Japan’s military procurement agency announced February 7, that it had successfully conducted a series of flight tests with its prototype hypersonic glide vehicle design.
In a statement, the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency said the four flight tests in California were conducted to collect data for further development of the Hyper-Velocity Gliding Projectile, with the tests all successful in doing so. The first test in the series took place in August 2024, with two tests in November, and one test in January 2025.
The ATLA first announced that it had conducted flight tests of the Hyper-Velocity Gliding Projectile in July 2024, with a test in March and another test in April. The April announcement was the first time Tokyo disclosed that it had begun testing its hypersonic glide vehicle design since announcing the start of the project in 2015.
According to the ATLA, it plans to complete research on the Hyper-Velocity Gliding Projectile this year in order to facilitate the start of mass production and delivery of an initial “Block 1” version to the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force by the end of 2026, in line with the accelerated research and production schedules for the program and other Japanese long range missile systems. A subsequent “Block 2” with greater performance is planned to be fielded during the 2030s.
The Hyper-Velocity Gliding Projectile is described by ATLA as being developed to facilitate long range island defense, particularly Japan’s remote islands in the East China Sea such as the Senkaku Islands. The Hyper-Velocity Gliding Projectile will be able to engage both hostile ships and ground forces, with the anti-ship version equipped with an armor piercing warhead, while the anti-ground version will use explosively formed penetrators.
Tokyo’s current planning is to stand up two specialist units in the JGSDF to operate the Hyper-Velocity Gliding Projectile, with defense ministry officials telling the NHK in 2022 that Kyushu and Hokkaido were being evaluated as possible locations for the batteries.