Japan successfully test-fired a missile from its territory for the first time as the country boosts its defense capabilities to counter rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific.
The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force fired a Type 88 surface-to-ship missile toward Pacific coastal waters from a test range on the northernmost island of Hokkaido in late June 2025, according to The Japan Times newspaper. An artillery brigade used a training missile to target an uncrewed boat about 40 kilometers off Hokkaido’s southern coast, according to The Associated Press (AP).
In the past, Japan tested its missiles in Australia and the United States because of space limitations, the AP reported.
“Domestic live-fire exercises like this one … are extremely important for us to maintain and improve the capability to defend islands and other areas, given the current severe security environment,” said Japanese government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi, according to The Japan Times.
Japan has identified China, which is rapidly building its military capabilities in the region, as its top security challenge. China and Russia have conducted joint military exercises near Japanese islands and Beijing’s forces have harassed Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) aircraft.
In July 2025, Tokyo demanded that Beijing stop deploying warplanes near Japanese intelligence-gathering aircraft, which it said was happening repeatedly and could cause a collision. Japan’s Defense Ministry said a Chinese fighter-bomber came within 30 meters of a JASDF electronic-intelligence aircraft over the East China Sea, according to the AP.
Japan has said it will steadily increase its defense spending to 2% of gross domestic product and is strengthening defense ties with the United States, its longtime treaty ally. Tokyo has approved a record $55 billion defense budget for fiscal year 2025.
“Japan faces national security circumstances which are the most serious and complicated since the end of World War II. It is an urgent task to fundamentally strengthen defense capabilities,” Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said in December 2024, according to The Japan News.
Those capabilities will include warships focused on ballistic missile defense. In July 2025, Japan took delivery of its first U.S.-made long-range radar antennas for its planned Aegis System Equipped Vessel guided-missile destroyers, according to the website Breaking Defense. Japan will acquire at least two of the ships, which are set to be commissioned in fiscal years 2027 and 2028.
Sentry is a professional military magazine published by U.S. Strategic Command to provide a forum for national security personnel.
