Tokyo’s first long-range missile was deployed at a south-western army camp, officials said, as the country pushes to bolster its offensive capabilities.
The upgraded Type-12 land-to-ship missiles, developed and produced by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, became operational at Camp Kengun in Kumamoto prefecture.
“As Japan faces the most severe and complex security environment in the postwar era ... it is an extremely important capability to strengthen Japan’s deterrence and responsiveness,” Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters. “It demonstrates Japan’s firm determination and capability to defend itself.”
The upgraded Type-12 missile has a range of about 1,000km, a significant extension from the 200km range of the original that would allow it to reach mainland China.
The deployment of the long-range missile gives Japan a “standoff” capability, meaning it can strike enemy missile bases from afar, marking a break from the self-defence-only policy the country long followed under its pacifist constitution.
Residents opposing the deployment staged protests outside the camp, saying it would escalate tensions and increases risks the area could be targeted.
Also yesterday, a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV), a new weapons system designed for island defence, was deployed to Camp Fuji in the Shizuoka prefecture, west of Tokyo.
Additional deployment of the upgraded Type-12 missiles and HGVs at other locations in Japan, including Hokkaido in the north and Miyazaki in the south, are planned by March 2028.
Japan also plans to deploy US-made, 1,600km range Tomahawk cruise missiles on destroyer JS Chokai later this year, and eventually on seven other destroyers.
Japan considers China its main regional security threat and has fortified the country’s south-western islands near the East China Sea in recent years.
Japan last June spotted two Chinese aircraft carriers almost simultaneously operating near Japanese remote islands in the Pacific for the first time, sparking Tokyo’s concern about Beijing’s military activity stretching far beyond its borders.
Tensions have escalated further since Takaichi’s statement in November that any Chinese military action against Taiwan could be grounds for a Japanese military response. — AP
