Japan plans to acquire US-made Tomahawk missiles to increase counterstrike capabilities

Asia-Pacific, News November 30, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

The Japanese government is considering acquiring the U.S.-made Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles in order to reinforce its counterstrike capabilities.

According to a Japanese public media outlet, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces are focusing on increasing long-range missile defense capabilities. The U.S.-made Tomahawk missiles are faster and more accurate compared to domestically produced long-range cruise missiles.

The Japanese ministry of defense has been actively working to improve the range of its domestically produced Type-12 surface-to-surface cruise missiles. The current range of these missiles is about 200 kilometers with a maximum range of up to 1000 kilometers. The Japanese Ministry of Defense’s project to enhance the range of these missiles is expected to be completed by 2026.

Japan is facing an immense security threat from North Korea as it has been frequently testing its domestically produced ballistic missiles towards the Sea of Japan. In October 2022, one of these ballistic missiles flew over Tokyo resulting in chaos and alerting the Japanese administration to activate threat sirens in Tokyo, warning residents of falling debris. It was the first time since 2017 that North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan.

Although the Japanese Type-12 cruise missile is also undergoing major upgradation aimed to increase its range, its main purpose remains to attack ships offshore. The introduction of the Tomahawk, a mainly land-attack cruise missile, would allow Japanese forces to attack enemy bases and other targets overseas. The move to purchase strike missiles is also controversial given Japan’s strict self-defense military policy.

At present, it is unclear which variant of the Tomahawk cruise missile the Japanese government may introduce: Block IV, which is currently in operation by the U.S. Navy and others, or the Block V, which was delivered in 2021

The introduction of the Tomahawk missiles into the Japanese defense forces is linked with the cancellation of Japan’s domestic Aegis Ashore Ballistic Missile Defense (BDM) program. In 2020, Japan backed away from installing two Aegis Ashore BMD systems over technical concerns. The cancelation of the program pushed Japan to look to other means of deterrence, including the consideration to purchase Tomahawk missiles from the U.S.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) launches a tomahawk land attack missile in the Mediterranean Sea. Photo: US Navy via AP — *^{The guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) launches a tomahawk land attack missile in the Mediterranean Sea. (Image Credit: U.S. Navy/via AP)}*

Japan is likely to purchase the Tomahawk Block IV, which has a longer range than all its predecessors. It can be directed at a new target in mid-flight, and can also beam back images of the battlefield to its launch platform. Currently, UK’s Royal Navy is the only foreign user of the missile apart from the U.S. defense forces.

Tomahawk missiles are produced by American defense giant, Raytheon. According to Raytheon, U.S. and allied militaries have flight-tested the GPS-enabled Tomahawk missiles 550 times and used them in combat for more than 2,300 times. Its most recent use came in 2018 when U.S. Navy warships and submarines launched 66 Tomahawk missiles at Syrian chemical weapon facilities.