Beware! Japan Plans to Develop Submarine-Launched Hypersonic Missiles

[Global Times Report, Reporter Guo Yuandan] According to reports from multiple Japanese media outlets including Kyodo News and the Tokyo Shimbun on the 19th, the overall content of Japan's Ministry of Defense budget request for the fiscal year 2027 has recently been revealed. Several relevant individuals disclosed on the 18th that as one of the means to strengthen the so-called "counterstrike capability" (i.e., the ability to attack enemy bases), the Ministry of Defense plans to develop submarine-launched hypersonic missiles and advance research on equipping unmanned underwater vehicles with long-range missile launch capabilities. Military experts interviewed by the Global Times on the 19th stated that Japan has completely torn off the disguise of being a "peaceful nation" that it has long claimed, and is speeding down a dangerously aggressive path of military expansion.

According to reports, based on Japan's current "Defense Capability Development Plan," the Ministry of Defense's budget request for the fiscal year 2027 is expected to include approximately 8.9 trillion yen (1,000 yen is about 42.35 yuan). As more than 150 related projects, including "item requests," exceed expectations, the annual defense budget is expected to further increase, potentially reaching around 10 trillion yen.

The Ministry of Defense believes that underwater launch platforms are less susceptible to enemy attacks, and therefore plans to use them as an important means to enhance long-range strike capabilities. This budget request also proposes to utilize civilian products and technologies to develop cost-effective attack drones that can be mass-produced in a short period and possess long-distance flight capabilities. These projects are listed as "item requests" without specific amounts being clarified.

Further reports indicate that the Ministry of Defense is advancing the development of a "Vertical Launch System" (VLS) for missiles that can be mounted on submarines. The underwater launch missiles are envisioned to be deployed on submarines and unmanned underwater vehicles. As part of the counterstrike capability, the Ministry will begin developing low-cost domestic long-range missiles while simultaneously pushing for the purchase of guided missiles from overseas to acquire the so-called "counterstrike capability" as soon as possible.

Military expert Zhang Junsha stated to the Global Times on the 19th that Japan's move aims to upgrade the Soryu-class and Taigei-class diesel-electric submarines from their current platform, which launches Harpoon anti-ship missiles (with a range of about 120 kilometers) through torpedo tubes, to nodes capable of launching long-range land-attack cruise missiles underwater. Zhang Junsha noted, "This path expands the functional role of Japanese submarines from near-sea anti-submarine and anti-ship operations to 'underwater precision strikes beyond the defense zone,' which clearly breaks through the bottom line of the pacifist constitution's 'defensive posture' and constitutes an offensive military capability that post-war Japan, as a defeated nation, should not possess."

Since the fiscal year 2023, Japan's defense budget has continuously reached new highs, raising concerns across various sectors in Japan. Recently, mainstream media such as the Mainichi Shimbun published articles criticizing the skyrocketing defense budget, stating that it has surpassed the post-war defense policy safeguards, and the so-called "ability to attack enemy bases" essentially constitutes offensive military power, which will provoke security confrontations in the region and trigger an arms race in East Asia.

On August 14, Colonel Chen Xi, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, stated during a recent press release regarding military issues that Japan has recently significantly increased its defense budget under the pretext of a so-called "external threat," vigorously developing offensive capabilities and expanding its military-industrial complex. Japan's "new militarism" is clearly exposed, and the potential for disaster cannot be ignored. Chen Xi urged Japan to deeply reflect, confess, and repent, strictly adhere to the post-war international order, cease its dangerous actions of "remilitarization," and that returning to the wrong path will only lead to more painful failures and a more thorough reckoning.