Japan's Type 25 long-range missiles leave their Kumamoto base for a first big exercise

Launchers for Japan's new Type 25 ground-based anti-ship missile left their home at Camp Kengun in eastern Kumamoto city on Sunday, Oct. 18, heading for their first large-scale exercise since the weapon entered service in March. Kyodo News reported that a convoy of four vehicles, including the launchers, pulled out of the Ground Self-Defense Force post on Sunday morning bound for the Ohnohara training area on the border of Nagasaki and Saga prefectures in Kyushu.

The missiles will take part in Keen Sword 27, the large joint exercise between Japan and the United States that opens on Monday, Oct. 19, and runs until Oct. 29. According to Japan's Ministry of Defense, as cited by Kyodo, the Type 25 units will join training built around a scenario of countering enemy warships, but no live missiles will be fired during the drill.

The Japan Times reported that this is the first time Japan will deploy the longer-range missile outside its base in Kumamoto Prefecture. China Times, drawing on Kyodo and the Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun, added that Camp Kengun holds not only the launchers but also ammunition transport vehicles, fire-control equipment and command-and-control systems for the missile.

The Type 25 is a domestically developed weapon fired from a ground vehicle, with a range of roughly 1,000 kilometres. Hong Kong outlet on.cc described it as an extended-range development of the older Type 12 surface-to-ship missile, and noted that from Kyushu its reach would cover the Korean Peninsula, part of China's coastline and the waters around Taiwan.

Tokyo acquired the missile under the banner of counterstrike capability, the policy adopted in recent years that allows Japan to hit enemy bases in response to an attack. Kyodo and on.cc both described the weapon as Japan's first long-range system able to carry out such strikes in practice, which makes its appearance in a major allied drill a closely watched step.

Keen Sword is the most senior field training exercise held by the two allies. It alternates with a tabletop exercise called Keen Edge and is generally held about every two years, with a scenario in which Japan comes under attack. The Japan Times said this year's edition will be the largest ever, with about 45,000 Self-Defense Force personnel and about 12,000 US service members, and described it as a rehearsal for defending Japan's southwestern island chain.

Several other firsts are planned. The United States is sending an advanced anti-ship missile system to Yonaguni, an island in Okinawa Prefecture that sits about 110 kilometres from Taiwan. China Times reported that seven other countries will also take part in some form, five of them for the first time, including France and Germany.

The exercise comes as China's military activity near Japan grows. China Times noted that the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning sailed into the Pacific earlier this month, and said Washington and Tokyo hope Keen Sword will deepen their cooperation and improve their response to sudden military contingencies. On.cc reported that the US carrier Theodore Roosevelt, which began a port call at Yokosuka on Oct. 16, is due to leave on Monday morning as the drills begin.

For Taiwan, the movement of the Type 25 matters because a missile based in Kyushu with a reach of about 1,000 kilometres could, in principle, threaten Chinese naval forces operating in the East China Sea and near the island. Its first outing in Keen Sword will show how Japan intends to fold a long-range strike role into its alliance planning with the United States.