According to multiple government insiders quoted in a major Japanese publication on Sunday, the Japanese government intends to reduce the “missile gap” with China. According to reports, the government intends to upgrade its surface-to-ship missiles so they can be launched from ships and planes and can target ground targets while increasing their range to at least 1,000 kilometers.
According to the Yomiuri, an enhanced ground-launched variant of Japan’s Type 12 missile is anticipated to go into service in 2024, two years sooner than initially anticipated. According to the publication, Tokyo eventually wants “more than 1,000” of these missiles stationed around the Nansei Islands.
The article referred to the missile strategy as a “Taiwan contingency” program. According to reports, the US military and Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (SDF) agreed in December to set up an offensive base on the Nansei Islands in the case of a “emergency,” should a war arise between Taiwan and Beijing.
If implemented, the plan would see US Marines stationed on the Nansei Islands at a temporary attack base, with the SDF giving backup in the form of more soldiers if a military danger to Taiwan was near, according to Tokyo authorities cited by the nation’s Kyodo News at the time.
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has previously stated that it wants to revise and partially classify the current National Security Strategy by the end of the year, focusing on whether Japan can acquire weapons to strike enemy bases. This is in order to justify such “counterstrike capabilities.” Given Japan’s defense-focused constitution, which expressly rejects war, the subject is delicate.
There are over 200 islands in the Nansei chain, some of which are deserted. According to reports, three of the islands – Amami-Oshima, Ishigaki, and Miyako – were being evaluated as locations for missile bases, but their proximity to the disputed Senkaku Islands would infuriate China further due to the heightened militarization of the area.
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