A Japanese warship is on the way to the United States to be fitted with Tomahawk cruise missiles, the latest move by Washington and its Asian allies to beef up firepower as adversaries like China and North Korea expand theirs.
The JS Chokai, an Aegis-equipped guided-missile destroyer, is steaming to the US for a year-long deployment during which the ship will undergo modifications – and crew training – to enable it to launch the Tomahawks, maneuverable cruise missiles with a range of about 1,000 miles.
That would put targets deep inside China or North Korea well within range of the Japanese warship.
Japan in early 2024 signed a deal with the US to acquire 400 Tomahawks as part of Tokyo’s plans to increase defense spending to counter regional threats in what Defense Minister Gen Nakatani has called the “most severe and complex security environment” since World War II. Beijing is “rapidly enhancing its military capability” while “intensifying” activities around the region, Nakatani said in introducing that white paper, specifically mentioning the Senkaku Islands, a chain in the East China Sea that Tokyo controls but which is also claimed by Beijing, which calls them the Diaoyus.
China showed off some of that new capability – including powerful anti-ship missiles, during a military parade in Beijing on September 3. When Japan asked to buy the Tomahawks in 2023, China bristled at the move, calling out Tokyo for breaching its post-World War II “pacifist constitution,” which restricted the Japanese military – the Japan Self-Defense Forces – to a strictly defensive role.
“The moves by the US and Japan exacerbate the momentum of an arms race, affect peace and stability in the region, seriously disrupt global strategic balance and stability and undermine the international order,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at the time.
Tomahawks are one of the most proven weapons in the US arsenal.
According to manufacturer Raytheon, the cruise missiles “can strike targets precisely from 1,000 miles away, even in heavily defended airspace.”
Source: Here
