\n<\/p>\n
TOKYO — <\/span>Japan’s first long-range missile<\/a> was deployed at a southwestern army camp, officials said Tuesday, as the country pushes to bolster its offensive capabilities. <\/p>\n The upgraded Type-12 land-to-ship missiles, developed and produced by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, became operational at Camp Kengun in Kumamoto prefecture. <\/p>\n \u201cAs Japan faces the most severe and complex security environment in the postwar era … it is an extremely important capability to strengthen Japan\u2019s deterrence and responsiveness,\u201d Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters. \u201cIt demonstrates Japan’s firm determination and capability to defend itself.\u201d<\/p>\n The upgraded Type-12 missile has a range of about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), a significant extension from the 200-kilometer (125-mile) range of the original that would allow it to reach mainland China.<\/p>\n The deployment of the long-range missile gives Japan a \u201cstandoff\u201d capability, meaning it can strike enemy missile bases from afar, marking a break from the self-defense-only policy the country long followed under its pacifist constitution.<\/p>\n Residents opposing the deployment near the residential area staged protests outside the Kengun camp, saying it would escalate tension and increases risks the area could be targeted by potential enemies.<\/p>\n Also Tuesday, a hypersonic glide vehicle, a new weapons system designed for island defense, was deployed to Camp Fuji in the Shizuoka prefecture, west of Tokyo. Additional deployment of the upgraded Type-12 missiles and HGVs at other locations in Japan, including Hokkaido in the north and Miyazaki in the south, are planned by March 2028.<\/p>\n Japan also plans to deploy U.S.-made, 1,600-kilometer (990-mile)-range Tomahawk cruise missiles<\/a> on Japanese destroyer JS Chokai later this year, and eventually on seven other destroyers.<\/p>\n Japan considers China its main regional security threat and has fortified the country’s southwestern islands near the East China Sea in recent years.<\/p>\n Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi<\/a> ‘s Cabinet in December approved a record defense budget plan<\/a> exceeding 9 trillion yen ($58 billion) for the fiscal year beginning April and aims to fortify its strike-back capability and coastal defense with cruise missiles and unmanned arsenals.<\/p>\n Japan last June spotted two Chinese aircraft carriers<\/a> almost simultaneously operating near Japanese remote islands in the Pacific for the first time, sparking Tokyo’s concern about Beijing\u2019s military activity stretching far beyond its borders.<\/p>\n The defense minster last week announced the establishment of a new office dedicated to studying China\u2019s Pacific activity.<\/p>\n Tensions have escalated further since Takaichi\u2019s statement<\/a> in November that any Chinese military action against Taiwan could be grounds for a Japanese military response.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n