Japan on Thursday signed a deal with the United States to purchase 400 land-based Tomahawk cruise missiles, seeking to acquire the capability of striking an adversary’s territory with China and North Korea in mind, Japan-based Kyodo News reported.

As per the deal arranged through the US foreign military sales programme, Japan will pay about USD 1.7 billion to buy up to 400 Tomahawks and related equipment. Japan will make the payments over three years from fiscal 2025 starting in April next year, Kyodo News reported citing the Japanese Defence Ministry.

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Initially, Japan was planning to obtain the latest Tomahawk Block-5 missiles in fiscal 2026 and 2027 and deploying them on its Maritime Self-Defense Force Aegis destroyers. However, Japan in October, decided to begin the purchase a year earlier by procuring up to 200 of the previous version, the older Block-4 model.

US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said US forces will start providing training for the Japan Self-Defense Forces to use Tomahawks “as early as March.” He made the statement as he exchanged documents regarding the acquisition with Japanese Defence Minister Minoru Kihara in Tokyo.

Kihara said the Japanese government’s decision to bring forward the procurement of the Tomahawks, which have a strike range of about 1,600 kilometres, was made “in response to an increasingly severe security environment,” Kyodo News reported.
Amid China’s military rise and North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile strikes, Japan has decided to acquire “counterstrike capabilities” to strike targets in enemy bases, in a major policy shift under its war-renouncing Constitution, Kyodo News reported.

The Japanese ministry said it signed another contract to purchase the Norwegian-made Joint Strike Missile from fiscal 2026 in October. The Joint Strike Missiles (JSMs), which have a range of about 500 kilometres, are expected to be loaded on F-35A stealth fighter aircraft.
Earlier in December, the Japanese government approved a record-high 7.9 trillion yen defence budget for fiscal 2024, as the nation continues to invest in longer-range strike capabilities under a five-year plan to fundamentally revamp its defence posture.
The draft initial budget for the next fiscal year that starts in April witnessed a rise of 16.5 per cent from the previous record-high of 6.8 trillion yen in the current fiscal 2023. Japan’s defence budget witnessed a rise for the 12th consecutive year.

The spending plan is in line with the Japanese government’s decision in 2022 to invest 43 trillion yen in defence outlays from fiscal 2023 through 2027 amid increasing security challenges from China and Russia and North Korea’s nuclear and missile development.
For the fiscal 2024 budget, about 734.0 billion yen was earmarked to develop so-called counterstrike capabilities to strike targets in enemy territory, including missile launch pads, and standoff weapons, according to Kyodo News report.

Among the 734 billion yen, the Japanese government has set aside 96.1 billion yen to acquire an upgraded version of the Ground Self-Defense Force’s Type-12 land-to-ship guided missile, with an extended range of 1,000 kilometres.

Over 80 billion yen will be used to invest in developing and manufacturing hypersonic-guided missiles. Furthermore, about 32.3 billion yen will be spent on developing new precision-guided surface-to-ship and surface-to-surface missiles. About 200 million yen will be spent to modify Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers.

Furthermore, Japan has allocated 373.1 billion yen to build two additional Aegis destroyers expected to be commissioned in fiscal 2027 and 2028 as an alternative to a ditched plan of deploying the land-based Aegis Ashore system, Kyodo News reported.
The Japanese Government has decided to spend 565.3 billion yen to enhance its capabilities to swiftly send personnel and transport equipment, including procuring three landing crafts.