To address the increasingly tense situation in the Taiwan Strait region, the Japanese government plans to deploy a new type of Type 12 enhanced missile (ballistic missile) in Kyushu by the end of this year. With a range of 1000 kilometers, the missile can basically cover the coastal areas of eastern China. What are the performance characteristics of this long-range missile and what impact will it have on East Asia?
Looking at the deployment locations, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force has set up ground-to-ground missile units in Oita Prefecture and Kumamoto City. Japan is likely to upgrade these units in these locations to the new Type 12 enhanced missiles. Kumamoto City is about 800 kilometers from Shanghai and also about 800 kilometers from the location of the Chinese East Sea Fleet in Zhoushan, well within the range of the Type 12 missile.
As early as two years ago, the Japanese government deployed medium-range surface-to-ship missile units on Ishigaki Island. Ishigaki Island is very close to Taiwan, about 260 kilometers away. However, the currently deployed Type 12 missile is an older version with a shorter range of only 200 kilometers, so it cannot support northern Taiwan but can block Taiwan’s eastern waters and even the Miyako Strait to prevent the PLA fleet from breaking through the first island chain by moving south in the East China Sea.
In the future, Japan will certainly upgrade the old missiles in the Ryukyu Islands to enhanced versions with a range of over 1000 kilometers. From Shanghai to Fujian, from Xiamen to Guangdong, all fall within the range of Type 12 enhanced missiles.
Upon reading this news today, I couldn’t help but feel a bit nostalgic. Everyone knows that Japan has long been hesitant to develop offensive weapons, with military development always being cautious and burdened by history. Due to the legacy of World War II, Japan’s relations with neighboring countries such as Korea and China have not been very good, limiting its weapon development. I remember back in the 1990s when Japan was developing the “Osumi-class” helicopter escort ship. The Maritime Self-Defense Force has always wanted to develop small aircraft carriers, but due to political considerations, progress has been difficult and they ended up with a design featuring a straight-through deck.
After the Hyuga-class and Izumo-class helicopter escort ships, Japan eventually refitted the Izumo-class escort ships to become what we see today as light aircraft carriers, the first aircraft carrier for Japan after World War II.
These developments were unimaginable in the 1990s. It can be said that China’s actions in the Asia-Pacific region have loosened the constraints on Japan’s Self-Defense Forces. The same applies to Japan’s missile development. Japan used to shy away from developing ground attack weapons because, for example, you could call an anti-ship missile a self-defense weapon. But what about missiles for land attacks? Why would you develop them? Are you going to attack South Korea or China?
Therefore, Japan has yet to officially possess land attack cruise missiles. The Type 12 missile is called an anti-ship missile, but in reality, the Japanese designed it as a cruise missile capable of ground attacks during its development.
One of the most interesting features of the Type 12 missile is its guidance system. Flying at sea level without significant changes in altitude, common guidance systems typically use GPS, combined with active radar guidance or infrared guidance. However, the most significant difference in the Type 12 anti-ship missile is the addition of terrain matching guidance. Terrain matching guidance is usually found in cruise missiles like the U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile, Germany’s KEPD 350, and Europe’s Storm Shadow missile. Cruise missiles must maintain a certain altitude above land, flying along the contours of the terrain, and this is where the terrain matching guidance system comes into play.
Why equip an anti-ship missile with a terrain matching guidance system? It’s clear they have other plans. Japan had envisioned moving towards cruise missiles when they developed the Type 12 anti-ship missile ten years ago.
The Type 12 anti-ship missile, developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan, has been in service since 2005. The Type 12 anti-ship missile is 5 meters long, with a diameter of 0.35 meters, weighing 700 kilograms, and capable of achieving a maximum speed of 0.9 Mach, launched from a launch vehicle. There is also a ship-borne version of the missile called the Type 17 anti-ship missile, with a range extended to 400 kilometers, deployed on ships like the “Maya”-class guided missile destroyer of Japan.
After developing the Type 12 anti-ship missile, Japan began working on an enhanced version. In October and November 2024, five test launches were conducted at the Aeronautical Equipment Research Institute in Tokyo Shinto Island, with the test version being successful. Therefore, it is expected that the land-based version of the missile will be deployed by 2025.
From the photos, it is evident that the missile adopts stealth design, with an olive-shaped warhead and a trapezoidal air intake located under the body of the missile. A pair of foldable swept-wing high aspect ratio fins are configured on top of the missile body, allowing the missile to achieve a longer range.
The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force possesses the Type 12 anti-ship missile, while the Maritime Self-Defense Force has its long-range strike weapons, purchased from the United States, the “Tomahawk” cruise missiles. In 2024, Japan acquired 400 “Tomahawk” cruise missiles from the United States, including 200 Block IV units and 200 Block V units, with a staggering range exceeding 1600 kilometers. These cruise missiles will be deployed on Japan’s existing Maya-class and Kongou-class destroyers, greatly enhancing the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s long-range strike capabilities.
In addition to the “Tomahawk” cruise missiles and the Type 12 anti-ship missiles, the Japanese Ministry of Defense is also developing its own hypersonic weapons. In March and April 2024, the Japanese Ministry of Defense conducted two preliminary tests of hypersonic missiles. These missiles consist of a glider body warhead at the front and a high-performance solid rocket at the rear. The glider body is somewhat similar to the U.S. Army’s “Dark Eagle” aircraft. The entire missile can be mounted on high-mobility vehicles, with each launcher vehicle equipped with two missile launch tube boxes, providing mobile combat capability.
During wartime, the rocket engine propels the missile to hypersonic speeds in the near-space region, gliding rapidly towards the target area using GPS and inertial guidance, before making a high-speed plunging attack on enemy warships, primarily targeting large surface warships such as enemy aircraft carriers. The expected range of these missiles is up to 800 kilometers.
Furthermore, Japan is developing another type of hypersonic missile that uses a technically more challenging waverider configuration for the glider warhead, resembling the U.S. HTV-2 aircraft. From the launch vehicle perspective, the missile is larger in size, with one launcher vehicle carrying a missile launch tube box. According to this report by The Paper, the range of this new weapon can exceed 1000 kilometers and possibly reach 2000 kilometers.
Japan possesses a very strong defense industry base and is at the forefront globally in submarines, surface warships, and tanks. However, due to historical issues stemming from World War II, Japan’s weapons cannot be exported, leading to slow development in the arms market. Moreover, due to restrictions from the United States and its allies, Japan has been cautious about developing offensive weapons.
Yet, all these constraints are gradually being lifted due to the threatening circumstances posed by China in the Indo-Pacific region. Japan has not only refurbished the Izumo-class aircraft carriers, developed an enhanced version of the Type 12 anti-ship missile but also intends to develop even more powerful and longer-range hypersonic weapons in the future. These developments are bound to have a profound impact on the future East Asian landscape and will become a key factor in countering China’s military expansion.
Subscribe to YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@MilitaryIntelligence999/featured
Subscribe to GJW channel:
https://www.ganjingworld.com/channel/1eiqjdnq7go7Rbr3gcLeMtv0n13p0c
Subscribe to Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/tansuoshifen/
Donation link:
https://donorbox.org/tssf