Japan Dispatches Long-Range Strike Missiles at Two Bases for First Time
"In response to the increasingly severe security environment surrounding Japan, the Ground Self Defense Force is engaged in the development of stand-off defense capabilities," the ministry said in a post on X, the US-based social media platform.
The missiles were described as being dispatched "for the first time as domestically developed stand-off missiles," the ministry added.
According to a news agency, the systems have been positioned at Camp Kengun in Kumamoto Prefecture in southwestern Japan and Camp Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture in central Japan.
Camp Kengun has been armed with a ground-launched upgraded Type 12 land-to-ship guided missile boasting a range of approximately 1,000 kilometers — sufficient to reach portions of the continental coastline from Kyushu. Meanwhile, a training unit at Camp Fuji has received hyper-velocity gliding projectiles specifically designed for the defense of remote islands, where operational methods will be further studied.
Additional deployments are scheduled for fiscal 2026, with Camp Kamifurano in Hokkaido and Camp Ebino in Miyazaki Prefecture in the Kyushu region set to receive missiles. The current model carries a range of several hundred kilometers, media reported, citing sources.
The move "marks a shift from the country's exclusively defense-oriented policy under its war-renouncing Constitution," the agency noted — a profound strategic realignment for a nation constitutionally bound to pacifism since World War II.
The deployments have not gone without controversy. Local residents near the affected bases have expressed unease that their communities could become prime targets in the event of a military confrontation. The Defense Ministry, however, has stood firm, maintaining that the systems are indispensable to bolstering Japan's deterrence capabilities.
The ministry confirmed that further long-range missile deployments to additional units are already in the pipeline.
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