Japan to Develop Land-Based Cruise Missiles for Potential Use in Enemy Base Attacks

Plan to Upgrade '12-sik Jidaeham Yudotan' to Extend Range

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The Japanese government has decided to develop a long-range cruise missile capable of attacking enemy missiles from beyond their range as a new missile deterrence measure, Yomiuri Shimbun and others reported on the 9th.

According to the report, the Japanese government plans to upgrade the "Type 12 Surface-to-Ship Guided Missile," currently with a range of about a hundred kilometers, to extend its range to several hundred kilometers and equip the missile with certain stealth capabilities. Yomiuri analyzed that the newly developed long-range cruise missile "may also be used in the future to attack enemy missile bases and the like."

The Japanese government is expected to approve the plan to develop a cruise missile that can be launched from ships and aircraft and can also attack ground targets at the Cabinet meeting next week. To this end, it has allocated 33.5 billion yen in the budget for next year to promote upgrades such as increasing the missile's size, aiming to complete development within the next five years, Yomiuri reported.

The Ministry of Defense is also promoting the introduction of the long-range air-to-ground missile "JASSM (range 900 km)" to be mounted on F-15 fighter jets, under the pretext of countering the enhanced missile attack capabilities of North Korea and China. Yomiuri explained that by developing a new cruise missile that can be launched from land and ships as well, the intention is to make enemy countermeasures more difficult and strengthen deterrence.

Mainichi Shimbun also reported that the Ministry of Defense plans to upgrade the Type 12 Surface-to-Ship Guided Missile currently under development into a long-range cruise missile within five years, equipping it with stand-off capability to strike from outside the enemy's threat range.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.