Japan is planning a public offering for the rocket motors and propulsion components it is tasked to work on under a joint missile defense production program with the United States.
Kazuya Yonekura, the Japanese Ministry of Defense’s director of guided weapons project management division, told Defense News that the contract for Japan’s task in the Glide Phase Interceptor program will be awarded by March 2025.
Japan has allocated $480 million for the program for the current fiscal year. Yonekura and the MOD declined to name the companies interested in the program or if multiple bidders are expected.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is anticipated as one of the bidders, with the Defense Business Strategy Briefing it released in November 2023 featuring an integrated air and missile defense program as one of the main initiatives along with a GPI concept art.
For the U.S. work on the GPI project, the Missile Defense Agency is expected to select either Northrop Grumman or RTX as the main contractor.