Overview
- Japan's Defense Ministry, which announced the step Tuesday, activated upgraded Type 12 missiles at Camp Kengun and stationed hypervelocity glide projectiles at Camp Fuji.
- The ministry cites a Type 12 range of about 1,000 kilometers, though unnamed sources say the version now fielded reaches only several hundred kilometers as upgrades continue.
- Camp Fuji's training unit will refine how to use the glide weapons, which fly at high speed on irregular paths, ahead of planned fiscal 2026 deployments to bases in Hokkaido and Miyazaki.
- The broader build-out is progressing after Friday's upgrade gave the destroyer Chokai the ability to launch U.S.-made Tomahawks, with Type 12s slated for the destroyer Teruzuki and F-2 jets, and Joint Strike Missiles now arriving for F-35As.
- The government says the capability strengthens deterrence, while residents near the new sites warn their communities could become targets in a crisis.