Japan to join Trump's 'Golden Dome' missile defense initiative

Japan will inform the U.S. next week that it intends to join the "Golden Dome" missile defense initiative and expects that Washington may seek its help with missile production due to the Middle East war and other conflicts, taccording to two sources.



Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will announce the latest plan when she meets U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington D.C. at a leaders' summit on March 19, the Japanese government sources said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.



Trump's Golden Dome project, announced last year with an ambitious 2028 timeline, envisions expanding existing ground-based defenses such as interceptor missiles with more experimental space-based elements, meant to detect, track and potentially counter incoming threats from orbit.



But the project has made little visible progress so far. Details of how Japan will participate also remain unclear.



The Yomiuri newspaper, which first reported Japan's plans on Friday, said Tokyo hoped the initiative could be used to defend the country against new hypersonic glide weapons being developed by China and Russia.