Japanese troops drill with new long-range ship-killer missile

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force troops deployed the new Type 25 surface-to-ship missile system to the Ōnohara training area in Nagasaki Prefecture and rehearsed anti-ship strikes using targeting information from U.S. forces and higher headquarters during Keen Sword 27, Japan’s largest joint field exercise with the United States, the GSDF’s Western Army said.

The Western Army said the training walked crews through the full sequence of an engagement against targets at sea, from receiving information supplied by the U.S. military and senior commands to carrying out the attack, with the aim of improving the units’ anti-ship combat capability. Units from the 4th Division and the 2nd Artillery Brigade, which commands the GSDF’s missile regiments in Kyushu, took part, although the Western Army did not say when the drill took place, how many launchers were deployed or whether any missiles were fired.

The Type 25 is the new name for the upgraded Type 12 surface-to-ship missile, a long-range cruise missile built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries that Japan formally designated and deployed with the 5th Surface-to-Ship Missile Regiment at Camp Kengun in Kumamoto on March 31, Naval News reported. Its range is reported to be about 1,000 km (620 miles), compared with roughly 200 km (125 miles) for the original Type 12, which puts targets across the East China Sea within reach of launchers based in Kyushu and makes the missile a central part of the “counterstrike” capability Tokyo adopted in its 2022 security strategy.

The truck-mounted system relies on outside sensors to find targets far beyond the horizon, which is why the drill focused on taking in data from U.S. forces and other units before firing. A ship-launched version is set to go to sea first aboard the destroyer Teruzuki, and an air-launched version is being tested on upgraded F-2 fighters, with both scheduled to enter service in fiscal 2027.

Keen Sword 27 runs from Oct. 19 to Oct. 29 at training areas, camps and bases across Kyushu and Okinawa, and the Western Army describes it as the largest field exercise held in Japan. Troops from the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the Philippines are taking part alongside Japan’s ground, maritime and air self-defense forces, and the exercise opened with a ceremony at Camp Ishigaki on Oct. 19.

The Western Army said the exercise is intended to strengthen the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. alliance and cooperation with partner nations, and it has not said whether the Type 25 will take part in any further phases of Keen Sword before the exercise ends on Oct. 29.