Overview
- The Ground Self-Defense Force publicly showed deployment procedures for the Type-25 long-range anti-ship missile on Sunday during the Japan–U.S. Keen Sword exercise at the Onogahara range.
- The demonstration involved moving launcher-equipped vehicles to firing positions and rehearsing pre-launch checks but did not include any live missile launches.
- The Type-25, placed at JGSDF Kengun Garrison in March, has an estimated range near 1,000 kilometers that would put much of the Korean Peninsula and China’s eastern coast within reach.
- Tokyo frames the system as part of a new 'counterattack' or enemy-base attack posture and plans to extend long-range strike functions to Maritime Self-Defense Force escort ships and Air Self-Defense Force fighters.
- The public display builds on related moves this year, including a Type-25 glide munition deployment in March and an MSDF Aegis destroyer gaining Tomahawk launch capability in August, and it signals closer Japan–U.S. operational ties and deterrence efforts.