As Japan increases the range of its munitions to counter regional threats, the ability to launch them from different systems to maximize flexibility is becoming an important factor in deciding which weapons to field.
While several long-range, precision-guided projectiles can already be deployed from aircraft, submarines and ground launchers, only a few can be fired from howitzers. And even then, these guided artillery shells often have a limited range of between 26 and 70 kilometers.
As Tokyo prepares to update its three key national security documents by the end of this year, The Japan Times understands there are emerging requirements for a long-range weapon that can be launched from the Ground Self-Defense Forces’ older Type 99 and newer Type 19 self-propelled howitzers to help boost Japan’s overall counterattack capabilities.
It’s unclear which system Tokyo will ultimately choose, but experts say that the decision will depend on a number of factors, including performance, cost, upgradability and interoperability with similar systems used by like-minded nations.
The Self-Defense Forces’ (SDF) branches will each be pushing for their own procurement recommendations when Tokyo drafts the next Defense Buildup Program, Japan’s five-year acquisition plan, later this year.
But with several big-ticket items already earmarked, funding for procurement will be limited, despite higher defense spending, particularly as inflation and the yen’s diminishing value erode Japan’s plans for its largest military buildup since World War II.
The Sceptre long-range, precision-guided artillery munition being test-fired. U.S.-based manufacturer Tiberius Aerospace is pitching the advanced munition to the GSDF.
The Sceptre long-range, precision-guided artillery munition being test-fired. U.S.-based manufacturer Tiberius Aerospace is pitching the advanced munition to the GSDF. | Tiberius Aerospace
As a result, one of the SDF’s main challenges will be finding ways to adapt existing systems to modern warfare — a development that will include lessons learned from the Russia-Ukraine War.
These, experts say, will be particularly relevant to the GSDF, whose procurement practices, including the acquisition of around 300 howitzers, has for decades focused on defending against a large-scale ground invasion of Japan.
While the weapons remain serviceable, their practicality has come into question as the country revises its defense strategy and buildup program.
“While the GSDF has shifted towards more agile weapon systems under their southwest islands defense efforts, the answer will not always be in procurement of new weapon systems, but rather in looking for ways to repurpose what’s already in its inventory,” said Michael Bosack, founder of the Parley Policy Initiative and a former U.S.-Japan alliance manager.
This is something that Ukrainian forces have had to do swiftly as they receive decades-old weapon systems from partners and determine how to apply them in a combat environment that involves the massive use of missiles and drones in urban environments.
Some defense companies have already taken notice of this requirement, including U.S.-based Tiberius Aerospace.
The firm launched partnership negotiations this week with as many as four Japanese defense contractors. These discussions aim to allow the Japanese companies to license-build two of the firm’s products: the Sceptre 155 mm ramjet-propelled artillery round and the Invictus tactical missile.
“If you look at how a standard M777 howitzer is widely used in Ukraine today, it has a maximum range of 26 kilometers using standard, nonguided ballistic shells,” Andy Baynes, one of the co-founders of Tiberius Aerospace, said in an interview in Tokyo.
Tiberius Aerospace recently launched talks with as many as four Japanese firms to have them potentially license-build its Sceptre and Invictus weapons in Japan.
Tiberius Aerospace recently launched talks with as many as four Japanese firms to have them potentially license-build its Sceptre (image) and Invictus weapons in Japan. | Tiberius Aerospace
Sceptre can increase the range of that — or any other — howitzer to 150 km, he said. Crucially, this advanced munition being proposed for the GSDF is also precision-guided, boasting accuracy to within 3.5 meters. This stands in stark contrast with unguided munitions that can miss targets by hundreds of meters, requiring a higher volume of fire.
Baynes said that Sceptre, which is currently being independently verified and validated by the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit, could cost about $50,000 per round.
If awarded a contract, Baynes said that the speed at which these weapons could be license-produced in Japan would depend on Japanese manufacturers’ capabilities. Should all these be in place, production could start within six weeks.
The company’s push comes at a time of growing international security tensions that are driving countries to both improve and expand their own defense-industrial bases.
Baynes said the idea behind licensing production in individual countries is to make the defense industries of like-minded nations “more agile and more federated in their manufacturing footprint.”
Tiberius is not the only foreign company aiming to meet this emerging Japanese requirement. Norway-based company NAMMO, which is reportedly also in talks with a Japanese manufacturer, is offering another 150-km-range, ramjet-powered guided munition.
The GSDF is not unfamiliar with foreign-made munitions. Since 2025, it has been testing 75-km-range Vulcano 155 mm guided artillery shells from Italy’s Leonardo on its tracked Type 99 and wheeled Type 19 howitzers.
Japan and other countries are also known to be working on new propulsion tech known as rotating detonation engines that could potentially boost artillery ranges to 500 km.
“Expanding the range and precision of the 155 mm artillery shell is mandatory given the evolving nature of warfare,” said James Angelus who heads the International Security Industry Council Japan. At the same time, he stressed that whichever technology the GSDF adopts “must be interoperable with allied nations and be built in-country with Japanese partners.”
The growing international interest in SDF requirements shows the extent to which foreign defense contractors have come to view today’s Japan as not only a potential customer but also as a possible weapons manufacturing base.
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