Japan seeks Australian ranges for long-range missile tests

Japan and Australia have agreed to begin discussions on allowing Japan’s Self-Defense Forces to use Australian test ranges for long-range missiles as Tokyo builds out its “counterstrike” capability, Nikkei reported, citing a joint press conference in Canberra between the two countries’ defense ministers.

Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi met with his Australian counterpart, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, on Tuesday. The two ministers said afterward they had agreed to advance talks on Japan’s use of Australian ranges to test its long-range strike weapons.

“We have agreed to progress a better and enhanced arrangement between Australia and Japan for Japan’s use of our missile ranges over the next decade across a range of missile capabilities,” Marles told reporters.

Koizumi said the arrangement would mark only the second time Japan has secured a missile range agreement with a foreign partner, after the United States.

“If the Japan Self Defence Forces are able to conduct test launches of stand-off missiles, such as hypersonic missiles in Australia, it would be a groundbreaking development,” Koizumi said.

Japan’s counterstrike capability refers to long-range missiles intended to strike enemy launch sites from outside their range, a posture Tokyo formally adopted as part of its 2022 national security strategy revision. Japan has been developing an upgraded, extended-range version of its Type 12 surface-to-ship missile as the centerpiece of that capability, alongside plans to acquire U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Japan is also developing a hypersonic weapon under its Hyper Velocity Gliding Projectile program, which Koizumi’s comments suggest could be among the systems tested on Australian ranges.