The Diplomat:
Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) completed development of its first domestically designed supersonic anti-ship missile, designated XASM-3, with mass production of the new weapon system slated to begin in fiscal year 2019, according to local media reports.
The XASM-3 has been specifically designed to be carried by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s (JASDF) F-2 multirole fighter jets, a Mitsubishi license-produced variant of Lockheed Martin’s F-16. The service currently operates around 90 Mitsubishi F-2 multirole fighter aircraft, which first entered service in 2007.
“Each aircraft will be capable of carrying up to two XASM-3 missiles,” I noted July 2017. “The new missile will replace the older domestically produced Type 80 and Type 93 air-to-ship missiles capable of reaching near supersonic speed.” Powered by a ramjet engine, the missile can reportedly reach top speeds of up to Mach 3 and has an operational range of 80 nautical miles (150 kilometers).
