A long-range missile capable of striking enemy bases about 1,000 kilometers away has been used in a joint US-Japan integrated exercise for the first time, the Nishinippon Shimbun said in an editorial. The missile has been stationed at the Ground Self-Defense Force's Kengun base in Kumamoto since March, and residents nearby fear that in a contingency their area would become a target.
The ministry has stacked up deployments and drills as fait accompli without answering residents who want a detailed explanation, the editorial said. The missile at Kengun, the Type 25 surface-to-ship guided missile, can reach parts of the Chinese mainland coast, the area around Taiwan and North Korea when fired from Kyushu.
The exercise took place in October at the Oonohara training ground, which straddles Nagasaki and Saga prefectures, as part of the integrated drill. Troops moved a vehicle carrying a launcher to a firing position and raised the launcher in a procedure simulating a strike on a ship at sea. No missile was loaded and none was fired.
The Defense Ministry is rushing long-range missile deployment, citing a sterner security environment around Japan as China expands its maritime activity. A high-speed glide missile for island defense is due to be deployed at the GSDF's Ebino base in Miyazaki Prefecture within the current fiscal year.
The Aegis destroyer Chokai, homeported at the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Sasebo base in Nagasaki Prefecture, finished conversion work in the United States to carry Tomahawk cruise missiles and returned to port in August.
Even now that missiles are being used in exercises, the ministry still lacks any willingness to face residents' questions and unease, the editorial said. A launcher was shown to residents at Kengun in October for the first time, but the dialogue-style briefing they have asked for has still not happened.
When the missile was brought into the base in March, neither the Kumamoto prefectural government nor the city government was told in advance, drawing complaints from their leaders. That approach will not win understanding for the deployment, and anxiety will only grow.
The ministry is pushing a "southwest shift" that strengthens defense forces mainly across Kyushu and Okinawa, and argues that long-range missiles serve as a deterrent that dissuades an enemy from attacking. Deterrence alone is not persuasive, the editorial said: wars now under way around the world, starting with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, show that building up armaments is not enough to keep a country safe.
The editorial calls on the ministry to explain earnestly and convincingly what risks residents around the base would face and how those risks could be prevented.
According to the ministry, Chinese military information-gathering aircraft, drones and vessels were repeatedly confirmed operating around Japan during the integrated exercise, apparently to monitor how it unfolded. Dialogue with China has been cut off and tensions have risen since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks on a Taiwan contingency in November last year. Avoiding needless friction with neighbors requires not only stronger deterrence but diplomacy that keeps communication close, the editorial said.