Japan has deployed domestically produced long-range missiles for the first time
Japan has deployed domestically produced long-range missiles on its territory for the first time. The deployment took place in southwestern Japan, marking the country’s first such move.
ABC News reports this.
The upgraded Type 12 surface-to-ship missiles, developed and manufactured by the Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, have been put into service at the Ken-gun camp in Kumamoto Prefecture. The upgraded missile has a range of about 1,000 kilometers, significantly greater than the 200-kilometer range of the original version, allowing it to reach mainland China.
“As Japan faces the most severe and complex security conditions in the postwar period... this is an extremely important means of strengthening Japan’s deterrence and operational response,” Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters.
The deployment of long-range missiles gives Japan the ability to strike enemy missile bases from a great distance, marking a departure from the policy of exclusive self-defense that the country has adhered to for a long time in accordance with its pacifist constitution.
Residents opposed to the deployment of missiles near a residential area staged protests near the Kengun camp, arguing that it would escalate tensions and increase the risk that the area could become a target for potential enemies.
Also on Tuesday, a hypersonic glider—a new weapons system designed for island defense—was deployed at the Fuji military camp in Shizuoka Prefecture, west of Tokyo. By March 2028, additional deployments of upgraded Type 12 missiles and hypersonic gliders are planned in other parts of Japan, including Hokkaido in the north and Miyazaki in the south.
Japan also plans to deploy U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of 1,600 kilometers on the Japanese destroyer JS Chokai this year, and subsequently on seven other destroyers.
Japan views China as its primary threat to regional security and has in recent years strengthened the defenses of the country’s southwestern islands near the East China Sea.
As a reminder, Japanis preparing restrictions on tourists by 2030.
Additionally, China has launched two trade investigations into U.S. actions.
Japan will downgradethe status of its relations with China in its 2026 diplomatic report.
