Japan plans to deploy over 1000 long-range missiles to counter regional threats
Asia-Pacific, News August 23, 2022 1 Comment on Japan plans to deploy over 1000 long-range missiles to counter regional threatsJapan is considering deploying more than 1000 long-range cruise missiles to bolster its counterattacking capabilities against China and North Korea.
Japan plans to overhaul its existing arms and missiles in the southern region to extend its attacking range from 100 kilometers to 1000 kilometers. A Japanese news media outlet reported while citing an unnamed government official that the ship or aircraft-based missile systems would be deployed around the country’s southern Nansei islands. Such missiles would be able to target the coastal areas of North Korea and China.
According to Japan’s Defense Ministry, ground-launched Type-12 standoff missiles are being considered for deployment on the country’s southern islands.
Japan’s Type-12 surface-to-surface missiles are developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It is an upgraded version of the Type-88 missiles. The Type-12 features a mid-flight GPS tracking system with better precision due to the enhanced Terrain Contour Matching and target discrimination capabilities.
Japan plans to acquire and develop a large number of these weapons to be deployed in the southern region by the fiscal year 2023. The Japanese Defense Ministry is expected to release the acquisition request by the end of this month.
Japan has focused more attention on securing its southern borders and islands especially after China launched five long-range ballistic missiles into the waters near Okinawa Prefecture earlier this month.
China’s ballistic missile launch was a part of its massive military exercise that took place around the Island of Taiwan, in response to a visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the self-ruled island. Tokyo condemned China’s actions of firing long-range missiles near its territorial waters and accused China of acting irresponsibly like North Korea.
China holds more than 300 surface-to-surface cruise missiles and about 1900 ballistic missiles that are capable of reaching Japanese territories. North Korea also possesses long-range nuclear-capable ballistic missiles that could hit Japan.
At the same time, Pyongyang has been claiming to have developed hypersonic missiles that are capable of striking Japan. Rising tensions in the region and the increasing capabilities of Japan’s rivals have triggered Japan’s efforts to acquire and develop more units of long-range ballistic missiles.
Japan does not possess a large number of long-range missiles that can enhance the country’s counterattack capabilities. By deploying Type-12 long-range missiles on its southern islands, Japan plans to enhance its counterattacking abilities against the increasing threats from China and North Korea.
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[…] month, a Japanese news media outlet reported that Japan is considering deploying more than 1000 long-range cruise missiles to bolster its counterattacking capabilities against China and North Korea. Japan plans to deploy […]