Japan looks for counterstrike missile capabilities: reports

Japan’s efforts to bolster its defense against growing threats in the region are currently underway, which includes looking into acquiring counterstrike capabilities, according to reports.

Stars and Stripes, a daily military newspaper, reported that a Japanese Defense Ministry spokesperson confirmed a meeting took place between the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, a conservative political party in the country.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, second left, talks to Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, right, as they gather for a cabinet meeting at Kishida’s office in Tokyo Friday, Oct. 14, 2022. North Korea early Friday fired an additional ballistic missile and 170 rounds of artillery shells toward the sea and flew warplanes near the tense border with South Korea. “Whatever the intentions are, North Korea’s repeated ballistic missile launches are absolutely impermissible and we cannot overlook its substantial advancement of missile technology,” Hamada said.  (Keisuke Hosojima/Kyodo News via AP)
(Keisuke Hosojima/Kyodo News via AP)

Stars and Stripes reported that a document detailing the acquisition of counter missile defense capabilities was shown at the meeting.

“It is being considered within the limits of the constitution and international laws based on the recognition of whether we are equipped enough to protect the lives of Japanese citizens,” the spokesperson told Stars and Stripes. “Therefore, we will continue to maintain an exclusive defense-oriented security posture.”

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Specifics of the counterstrike capabilities were not discussed because they were still under review.

The Associated Press reported on Nov. 22 that a Japanese government-commissioned panel said in a report to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that drastic defense buildup including the use of preemptive strike is “indispensable” to counter growing threats in the region.

Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Hwasong-14 is pictured during its second test-fire in this undated picture provided by KCNA in Pyongyang on July 29.
(Reuters)

Kishida and his governing party want to double Japan’s current defense budget to $10 trillion in the next five years, the AP said, to pay for military spending, reinforce the arms industry, and research and develop innovative technologies.

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Growing threats from Russia and North Korea, the latter of which continues to lob missiles toward Japan, pushed Kishida to pledge reinforcement of Japan’s military capabilities.

“Reinforcing deterrence is the top priority for the government and the governing party,” Kishida said when he met with executives of the governing bloc after receiving the panel recommendations. 

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According to the AP, Kishida’s party renamed preemptive strike to counterstrike capability to emphasize that it would be for self-defense.

With that capability, Japan could strike and disable enemy missiles before they are launched.