Japan plans to build a training site for surface-to-ship missile launches on a remote Pacific island, a Defense Ministry official said Thursday, in its latest effort to strengthen the nation's long-range strike capabilities amid China's military assertiveness.
The ministry has already informed local officials of the plan to set up the facilities on Minamitori Island, Japan's easternmost island, approximately 1,900 kilometers southeast of Tokyo, and start its operation in fiscal 2026 or later, the official said.
If realized, the training site would be the first one in the country for missiles with a range of over 100 km, according to the official.
Exercises using an upgraded version of the Ground Self-Defense Force's Type-12 land-to-ship guided missile with an extended range of some 1,000 km, being developed toward its deployment in fiscal 2025 that starts next April, will possibly be carried out at the new site.
Gen. Yasunori Morishita, chief of staff of the GSDF, told a press conference Thursday that having Japan's own missile range would "maintain and enhance proficiency," noting that the force has previously conducted such trainings in the United States and Australia.
The plan emerged as Tokyo aims to acquire "counterstrike capabilities" of attacking targets in enemy territory directly in an emergency, with Beijing's military buildup and provocative activities in waters near Japan, especially the East China Sea, in mind.
The capabilities are aimed at deterring attacks from outside forces by developing and procuring missiles capable of being launched from beyond the range of enemy fire.
The policy is part of the National Security Strategy, the government's key defense guidelines revamped in late 2022, marking a major shift from Japan's exclusively defense-oriented policy in the postwar era under its pacifist Constitution.
The GSDF has deployed surface-to-ship missile units in Miyako and Ishigaki islands in the southern prefecture of Okinawa, Uruma on Okinawa's main island, and Amami-Oshima Island in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima.
Minamitori Island has no civilian population, with only Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force members and Meteorological Agency personnel stationed there.
