Japan’s XASM-3 Supersonic Anti-Ship Missile Test Launch

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Japan’s Acquisition Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA) released for the first time footage showing the XASM-3 supersonic anti-ship missile during a test launch. ATLA is a branch of Japan’s MoD created in 2015 to “ensure technological superiority and respond to operational needs smoothly and quickly”.
It was recently reported that the missile will enter mass production in 2018 and be officially introduced with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), it will then be called XASM-3. According to the Japanese MoD, aerodynamic and captive carry tests on F-2 fighters had been completed in 2015 and the missile was then in the final stages of prototype manufacturing. XASM-3 is characterized as being “difficult to intercept” because of its speed and is an answer to the Chinese Navy (PLAN) recent “aggressive activities in the East China Sea”.
XASM-3 is capable of reaching Mach 3 speeds thanks to its ramjet engine fed by two air intakes (in a similar fashion to MBDA’s Meteor air to air missile of to the French ASMP-A air-launched tactical nuclear missile). XASM-3 is flying close to sea level in the final stage of attack to reduce probability of detection and intercept.