State Department clears $340M FMS request for hypersonic missile testing support for Japan

MELBOURNE — The US State Department has approved a proposed sale to Japan of equipment and services to support its program to develop hypersonic weapons.

The Foreign Military Sales (FMS) announcement on Wednesday flagged the possible sale to Japan of unspecified equipment as well as other services in support of its indigenous Hyper Velocity Gliding Projectiles (HVGP) program, in a deal that would cost an estimated $340 million.

The US said Japan had requested services including test preparation, test and transportation support, range surveillance, range safety including flight termination system reviews, and other related elements of logistics and program support with equipment and services will be provided by the US government.

This is Japan’s second such request to the US for such support for its HVGP test program, following an earlier request in March 2025. The Japanese government has earmarked 126.1 billion Japanese yen ($769 million) in its defense budget for HVGP development and deployment for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins on April 1.

The boost-glide weapon has a solid-fuel rocket engine booster that will launch its warhead payload to a high altitude before separation, where it will then glide to its target using its altitude to maintain high velocity until impact.

Japan’s Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA) had previously announced it had conducted a pre-launch test of a HVGP in California in March and April 2024, stating that the activity was to validate the measurement units for an actual test.

ATLA has also tested the deployment capabilities of the HVGP launch vehicle, showcasing photos of the 8×8 wheeled launch vehicle on board a ship and a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) C-2 transport aircraft during an industry day in November 2025.  

Initial deployment of the HVGP is scheduled for some time this year with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) selected to be the manufacturer of the system. A document published by Japan’s Cabinet Office said that the initial Block 1 variant to have a range of 500km (310 miles), with plans for future increments of the HVGP to have its range extended to as far as 3,000km around the 2030 timeframe.

The HVGP is one of two hypersonic weapons systems being developed by Japan. The other system is currently known only as the Hypersonic Cruise Missile and will be powered by a scramjet engine and appears similar to a typical missile, albeit one that cruises at a much higher speed while capable of traveling at long ranges.

Both Japanese hypersonic systems will be designed for anti-ship and land-attack missions, with the former to be equipped with an armour-piercing warhead designed specifically for penetrating the deck of an aircraft carrier while the land attack warhead will utilise multiple high-density, explosively formed projectiles, or EFPs, for area suppression, according to a 2020 ATLA document.