The Type-12 Type-12 road missile of the Japanese ground defense force (right)
Japan is considering deploying long -range missiles on Kyushu Island in the southwest, in an attempt to equip “counterattack” to attack the enemy’s targets in an emergency, according to Kyodo recently reported.
This deployment is expected to start at the end of the next financial year in March, in order to increase the security of the nansei islands in the southwest of the country. This chain of islands has a strategic importance because it is near Taiwan.
Authorities are evaluating potential places, while local people are concerned that they can become a target in enemy attacks, according to sources.
The missiles can be deployed at units of the Japanese Earth Rocket Regiment (GSDF) in the Oita province and Kumamoto province.
Okinawa province in the south, located closer to mainland China, it is difficult to be a place to deploy because of concerns that can increase tensions with Beijing.
The deployed missiles are an upgraded version of the GSDF Type-12 aircraft carrier missile, with an extended range of up to 1,000 km. The deployment in Kyushu will bring North Korea and coastal areas of China into the range.
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Honorary professor Yoichi Shimada at Fukui University (Japan) said that when the threat was increasing, Japan naturally had to deal with weapons systems more effectively.
“I think Japan should quickly take measures such as deploying long -range missiles to enhance security more strongly,” The Guardian quoted him as saying.
On 6.3, US President Donald Trump complained that the security treaty with Japan was not back.
“We have a great relationship with Japan, but we have an interesting agreement with Japan that we have to protect them, but they don’t have to protect us,” he said.
This treaty was first signed in 1951, when Japan was still occupied by the US military. The ability to perform Japanese military actions is limited by Article 9 of this country’s constitution.
Professor Shimada believes that “active measures” such as strengthening the missile system will strengthen the US -Japan relations, and “the requirements from the Trump administration on defensive agreements with Japan are not too unreasonable.”
However, according to Robert Dujarric at Temple University in Tokyo, Mr. Trump’s statements about allies and NATO, including Canada and Denmark, made some people in Japan concerned about his government’s commitment to respect for long -standing treaties.
