Japan is considering nearly tripling the number of units of its Self-Defense Forces equipped with ballistic missile interception capabilities in the country's remote southwestern islands by the end of fiscal year 2031, a draft plan shows.
Be incorporated into the guidelines of the government's National Defense Program, a 10-year defense-building policy that will be updated by the end of the year as the nation focuses on improving its defense capabilities in southwest Japan, an area threatened in the face of is strategically important Chinese military flexes its muscles in the East China Sea.
According to the draft, Japan plans to increase the number of SDF ballistic missile defense units in the Nansei Islands, a chain of islands stretching southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan, from the current four by the end of the fiscal year in March to increase to eleven by 2032.
Of the seven units receiving the capability, six will be stationed in southern Okinawa Prefecture and will deploy one to Amami-Oshima Island in southwestern Kagoshima Prefecture, according to the plan. Including the seven in those areas, a total of 14 surface-to-air units across Japan will recently be given missile intercept capability, it said.
The plan also called for the Ground Self-Defense Force's Type 03 medium-range guided missiles, originally designed to intercept aircraft, to be retrofitted to launch ballistic missiles deployed in fiscal year 2026 ahead of the planned one Beginning mass production in FY2029 and deploying the in FY2032, existing surface-to-air missiles will be modified to counter hypersonic glide weapons that countries like China and Russia are believed to be planning to develop.
Amid mounting security challenges such as Beijing's military buildup, Pyongyang's repeated missile launches into Pyongyang and Moscow's protracted war in Ukraine, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has vowed to "fundamentally" strengthen defense capabilities with a much larger defense budget.
The National Defense Program Guidelines will be renamed the National Defense Strategy, in accordance with the U. Military naming convention, when they are released later in the year along with two other defense-related government documents, including the National Security Strategy, a long-term security policy guideline.
In addition to bolstering its missile defense capabilities, the government claims to have a capability to attack enemy bases, or a "counterattack capability," and says its missile defense systems alone are insufficient to deal with the rapid advance of missile technology through Nations like China, North Korea and Russia.
Japan, known for its war-denying constitution since 1947, is likely to include the controversial idea of acquiring counter-strike capabilities in National Security Strategy , which would allow Japan to fire on enemies and disable them. Missiles before they are fired from foreign territory.
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