Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Gets Japan Missile Contract

By Chieko Tsuneoka

TOKYO--Japan's Defense Ministry said Tuesday that it has awarded contracts worth 378 billion Japanese yen ($2.83 billion) to the country's top defense contractor, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., to develop and mass-produce a series of new longer-range missiles.

The missiles, sometimes called standoff missiles, are capable of striking a distant target while lowering the risk of the enemy striking back. They have a longer range compared to Japan's existing missiles, which aren't intended to attack other countries' territory.

In December, Japan said it would raise defense spending over five years to 2% of gross domestic product, up from slightly more than 1% currently.

The four contracts were signed between April 3 and April 7, the Defense Ministry said. They call for development and production of land, sea and air-based cruise missiles with a range of 1,000 kilometers or more.

Under the contracts, Mitsubishi will also build a hypersonic glide vehicle that the ministry expects to start deploying in the fiscal year beginning April 2026, and it will develop a cruise missile to be launched from submarines.

In addition to the home-grown missiles made by Mitsubishi, Japan has earmarked JPY211 billion to purchase 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the U.S. They are scheduled to be operational some time after spring 2026.

Write to Chieko Tsuneoka at chieko.tsuneoka@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 11, 2023 09:09 ET (13:09 GMT)

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