Japan significantly strengthened its deterrence capabilities when it deployed its first domestically developed long-range missiles and new hyper velocity gliding projectiles (HVGP) in late March 2026.
The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) deployed the upgraded Type-12 surface-to-ship missiles at Camp Kengun in Kumamoto in southwest Japan, the Defense Ministry said. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is producing the missiles, which have a range of about 1,000 kilometers, five times that of their predecessor.
The HVGPs are stationed at Camp Fuji near the city of Gotemba in central Japan. The ground-launched projectiles can travel hundreds of kilometers at supersonic speeds and follow irregular trajectories, making them difficult to intercept.
Japan is implementing its counterstrike capability, announced in its 2022 National Security Strategy, to deter adversaries. The weapons deployments come as Tokyo builds its defense capacity amid increasing military activities by neighbors including China and North Korea.
“The latest shift reflects more than hardware,” Maki Nakagawa, a researcher at the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals and a former JGSDF commander, told the JAPAN Forward website. “Japan is quietly shedding old constraints and recalibrating its forces for a harsher strategic climate, one largely defined by China’s growing naval presence.”
The Chinese Communist Party’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has boosted activity around Japanese islands near the self-governed island of Taiwan, which China claims as its territory and threatens to annex by force. Two PLA aircraft carriers operated simultaneously in the Pacific Ocean near Japan’s remote southern islands in June 2025, sparking concern about Beijing’s military activity far beyond its borders. One warship sailed within Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) near Minamitorishima, a remote island east of Iwo Jima.
Additionally, China Coast Guard vessels intruded into the contiguous zone around the Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea almost daily in 2025.
Separately, North Korea continues attempts to advance its illicit nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs. The regime test-fired an estimated 10 ballistic missiles at an island target in the Sea of Japan in mid-March 2026, its third such launch in 2026. Tokyo estimates the 10 missiles flew about 340 kilometers before landing outside Japan’s EEZ near the eastern Korean Peninsula.
“The series of actions by North Korea, including the repeated launches of ballistic missiles and other projectiles, threaten the peace and security of Japan, the region and the international community,” Japan’s Defense Ministry stated.
Japan’s missile deployments put China’s coastline and much of the East China Sea, including northeast of Taiwan, within striking distance from the Kumamoto base. Nearly all of North Korea falls within the weapons’ range.
“This is an initiative of paramount importance for strengthening Japan’s deterrence and response capabilities, as the country faces the most severe and complex security environment since the end of World War II,” Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said.
The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) destroyer JS Teruzuki, based in Yokosuka, near Tokyo, and Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-2 fighter jets at Hyakuri Air Base also are scheduled to be equipped with Type-12 variants. The HVGP deployment will be expanded to Camp Kamifurano in Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s main islands, and to Camp Ebino in Miyazaki prefecture.
The Defense Ministry also announced in late March that the JMSDF destroyer JS Chokai has been configured to launch United States-made Tomahawk cruise missiles. The ship will undergo live-fire testing in the U.S. before returning to Japan in September 2026. Japan has agreed to purchase 400 Tomahawks, which have a range of about 1,600 kilometers.