Japan’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that long-range missiles with counterstrike capabilities have been brought into service at two Ground Self-Defense Force bases in the country.
The deployment of the missiles at Camp Kengun in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, and Camp Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, marks a shift from the country’s exclusively defense-oriented policy under its war-renouncing Constitution.
Japan has for the first time acquired a counterstrike capability, aiming to bolster deterrence in the wake of escalating tensions with China.
The capability enables Japan to attack enemy bases once an imminent attack is deemed likely, even before any damage occurs, but a misjudgment could result in a violation of international law, which bans preemptive attacks.
“This is an extremely important effort to strengthen our deterrence and response capabilities as we face the most severe and complex security environment of the postwar era,” Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters the same day.
While the ministry maintains the systems are essential for strengthening deterrence amid changes in the regional security environment, residents are concerned that the deployment sites could become targets in the event of a conflict.
According to the ministry, Camp Kengun has been equipped with a ground-launched version of the upgraded Type 12 land-to-ship guided missile that has a range of about 1,000 kilometers and can reach parts of the continental coastline from the Kyushu region.
Meanwhile, a training unit at Camp Fuji has been equipped with hypervelocity gliding projectiles for the defense of remote islands. Operational methods will be studied there, with plans to deploy the missiles to Camp Kamifurano in Hokkaido and Camp Ebino in Miyazaki Prefecture in the Kyushu region in fiscal 2026.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the model currently in use has a range of several hundred kilometers. The ministry is working to upgrade it to a range of around 2,000 km.
When asked if the ministry would hold a briefing session for Kumamoto residents, Koizumi said, “There is no such plan at this point.”
On March 17, two weeks before the missile deployment, the Defense Ministry held an exhibition of missile launchers and other equipment for top local officials, such as the prefecture’s governor and the capital’s mayor.
About 50 residents staged a protest on Tuesday in front of the main gate of the camp, holding up signs reading, “No to deployment” and “We don’t need missiles.”
“This is a day of anger,” Hidemitsu Horiuchi, 73, said into a microphone. “The surrounding area is densely populated with houses. Kumamoto will be a target.”
The possession of counterstrike capabilities was formally outlined in three revised security documents in 2022 during the tenure of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
The ministry plans to continue deploying long-range missiles to equip various units with strike capabilities. On Friday, the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Chokai destroyer, which is equipped with Aegis technology, acquired the capability to launch U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The MSDF destroyer Teruzuki, based in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture near Tokyo, and F-2 fighter jets at the Air Self-Defense Force’s Hyakuri Air Base in Ibaraki Prefecture are also scheduled to be equipped with Type 12 missiles. Deliveries of long-range Joint Strike Missiles for F-35A stealth fighter jets have also begun.
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