Tokyo reportedly seeks to deploy upgraded long-range cruise missiles to southern Nansei Islands
The Japanese government wants to extend the range of its Type 12 surface-to-ship missiles to at least 1,000 kilometers – and modify them to be launched from vessels and aircraft and strike ground targets – in order to close the “missile gap” with China, a major Japanese newspaper reported on Sunday, citing several government officials.
An improved ground-launched version of the missile is expected to enter service two years earlier than originally planned, sometime in 2024, the Yomiuri reported. The newspaper claimed that Tokyo eventually wants “more than 1,000” such missiles deployed across the Nansei Islands.
The reported missile plan is said to be part of what the nespaper called a “Taiwan contingency” initiative. Last December, Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (SDF) and the US military reportedly reached an agreement to establish an…
