In this fortnightly online column, ADM journalist Corey Lee Bell covers defence news across Japan and the Republic of Korea.
Japan looks to strengthen counter-strike capabilities
According to a report by public broadcaster, Japan Broadcasting Corporation, on 22 September, Japan’s Kongō-class JS Chōkai guided missile destroyer set sail for the United States. The destroyer will undergo modifications in the US to launch BMG-109 Tomahawk long range missiles.
The move comes after a series of recent developments in Japan’s quest to extend long range counter-strike capabilities that have heightened tensions with its neighbour, China.
The decision to modify the Chōkai, the most modern of Japan’s four Aegis-equipped, 90-cell vertical launch system (VLS), was announced by Japan’s Defense Minister, Gen Nakatani on 16 September.
Both the delivery of the missiles and the modifications have been expedited and are scheduled to be completed before the conclusion of this fiscal year (ends 31 March), with efforts to make the platform mission capable at the beginning of or before the 2026 financial year.
The announcement also came only days after the US deployed its Tomahawk missile launch-capable ground-based Typhon (Strategic Mid-range Fires System - SMRF) mobile launcher in Japan for the first time during the US-Japan annual Resolute Dragon military drill.
The move prompted an immediate rebuke from Beijing, which on 16 September called on Tokyo to “correct the wrong move and pull out the system as soon as possible.”
This occurred on the back of Japan’s Ministry of Defense’s (MoD) announcement on 29 August that it would deploy an enhanced version of its first domestically produced long-range missile, the Type 12, in Kumamoto City – which would place it within range of parts of the Chinese mainland including Shanghai.
Further plans have been made to deploy missiles at the Artillery School Unit at the Ground Self-Defense Force's Camp Fuji in Koyama Town, Shizuoka Prefecture. Explaining the importance of these moves the Defense Minister on 29 August said "To defend an area extending 3,000 kilometers in all directions, it is essential to possess the capability to deter and repel an invasion wherever it may occur."
All these developments follow recent evolutions in relation to the role of counter-strike capabilities in Japan’s deterrence strategy.
Counter-strike capabilities received prominent mention in the MoD’s “Export Panel on Fundamental Strengthening [Japan’s] Defense Capability” final report, which was released on 19 September following an 18 month series of meetings featuring defence policy experts, economists and business leaders.
The report, which stated that counter-strike capabilities “are essential for maintaining and heightening deterrence,” included a recommendation for Japan to increase its counter-strike capabilities by acquiring long range VLS submarines featuring “next generation power sources.”
A key juncture in the doctrinal shift towards acquiring counter-strike capabilities in the pacifist nation began in new responses to growing threats posed by North Korea’s missile programs outlined in the 2022 ‘three strategy documents’ (the National Defence Strategy, National Security Strategy and Defence Buildup Program) – although legal grounds for such a capability have been traced back to a parliamentary reading of the nation’s constitution in 1956.
The 2022 National Defence Strategy stated that “counter-strike through the use of stand-off defensive capabilities” lies “within the scope of the Constitution and international law” and can help “restrict enemy missile launches and thereby facilitate interception by missile defense,” and that this capability constitutes both a “key” to strengthening deterrence and “the minimum, necessary and unavoidable self-defence measure to prevent armed attack.”