Japan Takes Long-Range Missiles Out of Base for Keen Sword

Tokyo (GNP): Japan and the United States (US) began the Keen Sword military exercise on Monday, and Tokyo will deploy a type of long-range missile outside its base for the first time. The drill opens at a time when ties between Japan and China remain at a low point.

Keen Sword runs through October 29 in various parts of Japan and is set to be one of the largest exercises ever held between the two allies. It involves around 57,000 personnel, made up of about 45,000 Japanese Self-Defense Forces members and 12,000 US troops.

The missile deployment is the most notable part of the programme. Japan’s Joint Staff had said earlier that long-range Type 25 surface-to-ship guided missiles would be placed at a training ground in the southern region of Kyushu during the drill.

It will be the first time the missiles leave their garrison in Kumamoto prefecture, Kyushu, where they arrived earlier this year. The missile has a range of 1,000 kilometres (620 miles).

Japan plans to verify launch procedures for attacking naval vessels at sea. A Joint Staff spokesman said there will be no live-fire exercises.

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The US contribution also centres on the southwest. The US Marine Corps will reportedly deploy an unmanned surface-to-ship missile system known as the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS), along with the Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS), in the southern prefecture of Okinawa.

Hiroaki Uchikura, head of the Joint Staff, told reporters this month that the geography and operational conditions of the southwestern region shaped the size of the drill. He said its near-maximum scale reflects a heightened sense of crisis and strong demand for training.

Uchikura said, “We believe it is essential to be able to deploy forces swiftly and flexibly.”