THE Japanese government is considering the development of guided missiles with a range of up to 3,000km and their subsequent deployment in various parts of the country, Sputnik reported.

According to Japanese daily The Mainichi, citing sources, the maximum range of Japan’s missiles – Type 12 surface-to-ship missiles – is currently about 100km. Tokyo is planning to modernise the missiles to increase their range up to 1,000km or slightly more as a part of strengthening the country’s defence capabilities. The government is also mulling the development of new missiles, including hypersonic missiles, with a range of 2,000-3,000km.

The missiles’ subsequent deployment will be in three stages, The Mainichi reported. The first stage stipulates the deployment of modernised missiles with a range of 1,000km on the Ryukyu Islands (also known as the Nansei Islands) sometime around 2026.

During the second stage, missiles with a range of 2,000km would be deployed on Honshu Island, with the area near Mount Fuji being the possible site of deployment. The newspaper did not specify a timeframe for this stage.

The third stage includes the deployment of missiles with a range of 3,000km on Japan’s northernmost Hokkaido island in the mid-2030s, the report said.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in early October that Tokyo would consider every option to ensure the protection of its citizens, including the possibility of retaliatory strikes. – Bernama, November 25, 2022.