Japan’s Self-Defense Forces have begun training in the use of ground-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles as the island nation plans to deploy them starting in 2025 in hopes of bolstering deterrence against China and North Korea, the agency reported. Kyodo News business report on April 14.
With the help of the US military, officers from the Maritime Self-Defense Force and the Air Self-Defense Force joined the first exercise, which took place from March 25 to 29 at the US Naval Base in Yokosuka, southwest from Tokyo, with additional exercises. continue.
The latter exercise “provided participants with a hands-on overview” of the consoles and associated hardware for the American-made weapons control system, and gave participants the opportunity to “execute a typical simulated attack mission scenario “the US Navy said in a press release. release.
Such exercises provide “confidence in the deterrent that we all rely on,” U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said March 28 after observing the ship-based portion of the exercise, open to the media. communication, on the USS McCampbell.
He told reporters that U.S. forces plan to continue training Japan’s Self-Defense Forces through exercises “every two months.”
In a statement, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara welcomed the start of Tomahawk training and said his country was strengthening its “adversary defense capabilities to disrupt and defeat early and from afar any force attempting to invade Japan.” .
Japan plans to purchase 400 Tomahawks from the United States over three years, starting in fiscal 2025, to gain “counter-strike capabilities” to attack military targets inside enemy territory in the event of an emergency.
Of the 400 missiles, 200 are expected to be the latest Block-5 model Tomahawk, and the rest will be the older Block-4 model. Both versions have a range of about 1,600 kilometers and will be equipped with destroyers from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
Japan initially planned to buy 400 Block-5 missiles in fiscal years 2026 and 2027, but then decided to continue the purchase a year earlier, converting half of them to Block-4.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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