Shift in defense posture: from 'use force only when attacked' to 'strengthen deterrence through strike capability'

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Type-12 surface-to-ship guided missile [UPI]
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Type-12 surface-to-ship guided missile [UPI]

Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force plans to deploy long-range attack missiles capable of reaching the Chinese coast during joint military exercises with the United States in October, the Asahi Shimbun reported Saturday.

The move marks a strategic shift for Japan, which has long adhered to its "exclusively defensive" posture — a principle limiting the use of force to situations in which Japan itself is under attack. Tokyo is now moving toward strengthening deterrence through enemy base strike capabilities, a change expected to draw opposition from neighboring countries as well as from local communities that could become targets in a conflict.

Citing multiple Japanese Defense Ministry officials, the Asahi reported that the Ground Self-Defense Force will conduct a Type-25 surface-to-ship guided missile launch exercise at the Oyano Hara training ground in Kumamoto Prefecture as part of Keen Sword, the largest US-Japan joint exercise, scheduled for October.

The missile was deployed to the Ground Self-Defense Force's Kengun garrison in Kumamoto Prefecture in March.

With a range of approximately 1,000 kilometers, it can reach coastal areas of China and waters around Taiwan.

The Keen Sword exercise is premised on a scenario in which enemy forces land on and attack the Nansei Islands — the chain stretching from the southern tip of Kyushu to east of Taiwan — and US and Japanese forces respond jointly.

The Ground Self-Defense Force and US Forces Japan plan to run through the full sequence from activating systems upon a launch-preparation order, to jointly designating targets, to simulated launch. Live-fire exercises will not be conducted, however.

The Asahi described the exercise as the first deployment of the long-range missiles that will serve as Japan's primary enemy base strike capability, calling it a new chapter for a country that has long championed the exclusively defensive defense posture.

Orient Shield exercise held in September [AFP]
Orient Shield exercise held in September [AFP]

Anticipating a backlash from local residents, Japan's Defense Ministry plans to hold a briefing for communities near the Kengun garrison ahead of the Keen Sword exercise.

The ministry said the deployment was intended "to raise deterrence that would make an adversary give up on attacking," but pushback from China and other neighboring countries is also expected.

China and Russia had already criticized the deployment of the Typhon system — a launcher for Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of 1,600 kilometers — during the recent Orient Shield joint exercise.

The Typhon system was deployed at the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's Kanoya Air Base in Kagoshima Prefecture, from which a Tomahawk launch would put Beijing within range.

There had been considerable attention over whether the US military's Typhon system would remain at Kanoya Base after the exercise concluded, but the Defense Ministry announced Friday that it plans to withdraw the system to its previous storage location at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture around mid-October.

The ministry said the US side had told it the deployment was not a permanent stationing in Japan, Kyodo News reported.


mokiya@heraldcorp.com