Japan plans purchase of up to 500 U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles

$1.6bn allocated for planned deal to boost counterstrike capability

A Tomahawk cruise missile is launched from the guided-missile destroyer USS Barry in the Mediterranean Sea in March 2011. (Handout photo from the U.S. Navy)   © Reuters

Nikkei staff writersFebruary 14, 2023 00:59 JST

 

TOKYO -- Japan aims to ink a deal in fiscal 2023 to buy as many as 500 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the U.S., bolstering its long-range strike capability as part of a defense build-up.

The budget for the fiscal year beginning in April, now under consideration by parliament, allots 211.3 billion yen ($1.59 billion) for the purchase, to be negotiated through Washington's Foreign Military Sales program. This sum includes related costs such as storage containers.

Tokyo seeks to buy the latest Tomahawk model, of which the U.S. Navy began receiving deliveries in 2021. The weapons will be deployed on Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels equipped with the Aegis missile defense system, from which they can strike land-based targets more than 1,600 km away. Deployment is slated to start in fiscal 2026 and be completed the following year.

The purchase is part of Tokyo's effort to develop counterstrike capabilities, or the ability to hit sites that pose an imminent threat to the country.

The Defense Ministry also looks to extend the range of Japan's homegrown Type 12 guided cruise missiles to over 1,000 km. Tokyo intends to supplement the arsenal of the Self-Defense Forces with foreign-made missiles until the upgraded Type 12 enters mass production.

Deployment of the updated surface-to-ship weapons is scheduled to begin in fiscal 2026, though delays in development or production remain a risk.

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