Overview

• Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force fired a Type 88 surface-to-ship missile at Hokkaido’s Shizunai Anti-Air Firing Range in its first-ever test on home soil, with about 300 troops participating.
• Officials say the exercise reinforces deterrence against increasingly assertive Chinese naval activity and joint Sino-Russian drills near Japan’s coasts.
• Tokyo has previously conducted missile tests in the United States and Australia due to domestic space and safety limitations.
• Japan plans to deploy U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missiles and field Type 12 surface-to-ship missiles with about 1,000-kilometer range by early 2026, and build a new firing range on Minamitorishima.
• The drill reflects a break from postwar self-defense limits under Japan’s pacifist constitution after the 2022 strategy named China its top security challenge and called for boosting spending to around 2 percent of GDP.