Japan signs agreement to purchase 400 Tomahawk missiles as US envoy lauds its defense buildup
TOKYO — Japan signed an agreement with the United States on Thursday to purchase up to 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles as part of its ongoing military build-up in response to increased regional threats.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government has pledged to double its annual defense spending to about 10 trillion yen ($68 billion) by 2027, which would make Japan the third largest military spender in the world after the United States and China.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara announced a decision in December to accelerate the deployment of some Tomahawks and Japan’s Type 12 surface-to-ship missiles from fiscal year 2025, a year ahead of the original plan. The government says Japan is facing its “worst” security situation since World War II due to threats from China and North Korea, prompting the country to step up military cooperation with the US, Australia, Britain and other friendly countries.
In November, the US approved a $2.35 billion sale of two types of Tomahawks: 200 Block IV missiles and 200 upgraded Block V versions. They can be launched from warships and hit targets up to 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away, officials said.
The signing of the purchase agreement was attended on Thursday by Kihara and the US Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel.
Japan and the United States agreed to accelerate the deployment “in response to the increasingly severe security environment,” Kihara said.
Emanuel said training of Japanese soldiers for the Tomahawks will begin in March.
Late last year, Japan’s cabinet relaxed a ban on the export of lethal weapons, allowing the sale of Japanese-made weapons and parts licensed from other countries to those countries. The administration quickly approved a shipment of Japanese-made Patriot missiles to the United States to supplement the U.S. inventory.
Japan is accelerating the deployment of long-range cruise missiles that can hit targets in China or North Korea, while Japanese forces are increasingly working side by side with the US and other friendly countries and taking on a more offensive role.
At a press conference earlier Thursday to mark the end of his second year in Tokyo, Emanuel praised Japan’s swift move during that period to build up its military and strengthen its alliance with the US to meet challenges in the region .
Under a new defense strategy adopted in December 2022, Japan joined the United States, Australia, South Korea and many other regional partners “in an aligned vision on how peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific can be promoted and the challenges addressed. Emmanuel said.
The U.S. approach to its partnership with Japan is “one that ensures deterrence” and ensures that there is no change in the region through military force, Emanuel said.
“A new Japan is emerging, a more competent Japan,” he said.