The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) has announced that it will conduct its first domestic firing exercise involving the launch of surface-to-ship missiles, which can attack ships at sea from land.
The service has not officially disclosed the location of the training, citing ongoing coordination with relevant agencies. However, an official in charge of the matter in the town of Shinhidaka of Hokkaido Prefecture confirmed to The Diplomat on May 1 that the training will be held at the Shizunai Anti-Aircraft Firing Range of the JGSDF in the town.
The range lies adjacent to the service’s Camp Shizunai. It has the largest restricted water area available for use by the Self-Defense Forces in Japan at 1,256 square kilometers – a fan-shaped area of water with a radius of 40 kilometers and a central angle of 90 degrees that makes it suitable for firing training.
Up to now, the JGSDF has conducted surface-to-ship missile firing training in the United States and Australia, which have vast training grounds. As the first to be held in Japan, the upcoming training will mark a major step in Japan’s push for increased military self-sufficiency. As both China and Russia have been increasing their military activities around Japan, the service aims to establish a stable firing training system domestically by the end of the current fiscal year.
The Hokkaido-based Northern Army of the JGSDF will conduct the training using the Type 88 surface-to-ship missile, according to a Ground Staff Office spokesperson on May 1. The Type 88 surface-to-ship missile is a truck-mounted anti-ship missile developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It has been deployed since 1988. The missile has a range of about 100 kilometers.
The Type 12 surface-to-ship missile, which Tokyo is currently focusing on developing, is the successor to the Type 88 surface-to-ship missile.
Regarding surface-to-ship missile launch training, plans are underway to develop a firing range on Minamitori Island, a remote island in the western Pacific, in the Ogasawara Islands of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, with the aim of starting training there in fiscal year 2026.
“Given the severe security environment of recent years, we are currently making arrangements to conduct firing training within the country,” Japan’s Minister of Defense Nakatani Gen said at a press conference on April 11.
“Although there will be restrictions on range, etc., we will ensure that more units have access to various equipment and have opportunities to train using the equipment,” he said.
On April 17, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly protested to the Japanese embassy in Moscow, saying that the plan for the Northern Army of the JGSDF to conduct surface-to-ship missile firing from the Shizunai Anti-Aircraft Firing Range was “categorically unacceptable.” On the same day, Russia also notified the Japanese government that it would conduct firing training from April 17 to 22 in the waters around the disputed Northern Territories (known as the Southern Kurils in Russian), which are controlled by Russia but claimed by Japan. Russia has not since released details of its firing drills.
On April 16, Russia also suspended the right of innocent passage for all countries, including Japanese ships, in the waters surrounding the Northern Territories, prompting concern from the Japanese government. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea recognizes the right of innocent passage, which allows free navigation through the territorial waters of other countries as long as the rights of the coastal state are not violated.
It is highly possible that Russia decided to conduct firing training around the Northern Territories as a countermeasure against Japan. The Shizunai Anti-Aircraft Firing Range is about 335 kilometers away from the Habomai Islands, the part of the Northern Territories closest to Hokkaido of Japan.
At a press conference on April 18, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa criticized Russia’s planned firing training in the waters around the disputed islands, saying that it “contradicts our country’s position on the Northern Territories and is unacceptable.” Hayashi said that Japan had protested through diplomatic channels.