Japan deploys long-range missiles for joint US military drill

Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces personnel take part in joint exercises with US troops. (AFP pic) TOKYO: Japan kicked off a joint military exercise with the US on Monday that will see a type of long-range missiles deployed outside their base for the first time, as Tokyo's ties with China languish at rock bottom.

The Keen Sword drill, which runs through Oct 29 in various parts of Japan, will be one of the largest exercises ever between the two allies, involving around 45,000 Japanese Self-Defense Forces personnel and 12,000 US troops.

Japan's Joint Staff previously said that long-range Type 25 surface-to-ship guided missiles would be deployed at a training ground in the southern region of Kyushu during the exercise.

It will be the first time they have been deployed outside of their garrison in Kumamoto prefecture, Kyushu, since their arrival there earlier this year.

The missile, which has a range of 1,000km, can reach waters close to Taiwan, according to the Nikkei business daily and other local media.

Japan plans to verify launch procedures for attacking naval vessels at sea, but there "will be no live-fire exercises", a Self-Defense Forces' Joint Staff spokesman told AFP on Monday.

The US Marine Corps will reportedly deploy an unmanned surface-to-ship missile system known as NMESIS and the MADIS integrated air defence system in the southern prefecture of Okinawa.

"Taking into account the various geographical and operational characteristics of the southwestern region, we believe it is essential to be able to deploy forces swiftly and flexibly," Hiroaki Uchikura, head of the Joint Staff, told reporters this month.

Uchikura explained that the scale of the Keen Sword drill was determined considering these factors, and it "has become one of the largest exercises to date".

"The fact that the exercise has reached a near-maximum scale reflects both a heightened sense of crisis and a strong demand for training," he said.

Japan's ties with Beijing have soured since prime minister Sanae Takaichi hinted last November that Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on self-ruled Taiwan.

China views Taiwan as its territory and has not ruled out taking it by force.