WASHINGTON (Kyodo) Japan and the United States will conduct next month their first joint test of Japanese-developed technologies for an advanced interceptor missile under a joint missile defense project, sources familiar with Japan-U.S. relations said Monday.
The joint test, to be held off Hawaii sometime around March 9, will test the capabilities of a Japanese nose cone. But another scheduled experiment to test an infrared sensor system has been canceled, U.S. government sources said.
Japan was scheduled to dispatch a P-3C aircraft equipped with the infrared sensor to Hawaii for the joint test but has notified Washington it will not do so, the sources said. Further information on the reasons behind the cancellation was unavailable.
The nose cone and infrared sensor are for a larger and upgraded version of the Standard Missile-3 interceptor to be deployed on Aegis-equipped ships to defend against ballistic missiles.
The joint test follows a decision by the Cabinet in late December giving the green light for Japan to proceed with joint development of the next-generation interceptor.
In the test, the nose cone will be attached to a conventional SM-3 missile, the version which Japan plans to deploy by the end of fiscal 2007. The missile will be fired from the USS Lake Erie, a cruiser equipped with the Aegis air-defense system, the sources said.