Japan eyes building missile training site on Pacific island to boost long-range capability

The facility on Minamitori Island, Japan’s easternmost island, aims to start in the 2026 financial year or later: defence ministry official

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A China coastguard vessel (back) sails near a Japan coastguard vessel off Uotsuri Island, one of a group of disputed islands between the two nations in the East China Sea. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 6:27pm, 25 Jul 2024Updated: 7:35pm, 25 Jul 2024

Japan plans to build a training site for surface-to-ship missile launches on a remote Pacific island, a defence ministry official said on Thursday, in its latest effort to strengthen the nation’s long-range strike capabilities amid China’s military assertiveness.

The ministry has already informed local officials of the plan to set up the facilities on Minamitori Island, Japan’s easternmost island, around 1,900km (1,200 miles) southeast of Tokyo, and start its operation in the 2026 financial year or later, the official said.

If realised, the training site would be the first one in the country for missiles with a range of over 100km, according to the official.

Exercises using an upgraded version of the Ground Self-Defence Force’s Type-12 land-to-ship guided missile with an extended range of some 1,000km, being developed toward its deployment in financial year 2025 that starts next April, will possibly be carried out at the new site.

General Yasunori Morishita, chief of staff of the Ground Self-Defence Force, told a press conference on Thursday that having Japan’s own missile range would “maintain and enhance proficiency”, noting that the force has previously conducted such trainings in the United States and Australia.