Japan shows Type-25 long-range missile launchers to Kumamoto residents

Japan's Defense Ministry opened Camp Kengun in Kumamoto to members of the public on Saturday, 3 October, to show local residents the launch equipment for the Type-25 surface-to-ship guided missile, the first long-range strike weapon the country has fielded. It was the first general public viewing of the system since it was deployed to the Ground Self-Defense Force base at the end of March.

The Kyushu Defense Bureau ran the event in three sessions for residents who had applied in advance, and about 220 people attended in total, according to Kyodo News and the Yomiuri Shimbun. Sankei reported that roughly 80 people joined the morning session. Four vehicles, including a launcher and ammunition transport trucks, were lined up in a maintenance hangar, and a company commander from the 5th Surface-to-Ship Missile Regiment briefed visitors on the equipment.

The Type-25 is a domestically developed missile fired from a truck-mounted ground launcher. Its reported range of about 1,000 kilometres puts parts of the Chinese mainland coast within reach from Kumamoto. The government introduced the weapon as part of what it calls counterstrike capability, a policy under which Japan could strike enemy bases in response to an attack.

The ministry has said the missile will take part in Keen Sword, the large joint exercise between the Self-Defense Forces and the US military scheduled for later this month. Sankei reported that the system will deploy to the Ono-hara training area, which straddles Nagasaki and Saga prefectures, marking its first appearance in a major exercise since it entered service.

Kumamoto Governor Takashi Kimura and other local leaders were given a partial preview of the equipment in March, before it arrived at the camp. Kimura then asked the ministry to explain the deployment to ordinary residents as well. A public showing was planned for August but was postponed after a powerful earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture on 28 July.

Officials limited what they would say. A Kyushu Defense Bureau official told reporters that visitors had asked about the system's capabilities but did not give details of the answers, and attendees said soldiers declined to discuss operational matters. A deputy chief of staff at the Western Army headquarters, which is based at the same camp, said training would proceed with safety measures in place and that the army would provide information about it carefully.

Reaction among residents was mixed. Kyodo reported that members of a citizens' group protested outside the gate and called for a question-and-answer session rather than an exhibition, and that some residents fear the base could become a target in a crisis. Other visitors told the Yomiuri that they were struck by the size of the vehicles and wanted the ministry to share as much operational information as it reasonably could.

Camp Kengun is one of two sites that received Japan's first domestically produced stand-off missiles this year. On 31 March the Ground Self-Defense Force also placed the Type 25 Hyper Velocity Gliding Projectile at Camp Fuji in Shizuoka, where a training unit is using the first launchers to develop crew procedures. The ministry plans further glide projectile units in Hokkaido and on Kyushu during the fiscal year ending in March 2027.

Japan has been moving more of its defence assets into its southwestern region, citing pressure from China and North Korea's missile programme. The Kumamoto event gave residents a first look at a weapon that extends the reach of Japanese ground forces well beyond the country's own coastline.