Japan has dispatched one of its warships to the United States to be fitted with Tomahawk cruise missiles capable of striking targets up to 1,000 miles away, a move likely to intensify the region’s growing arms race.
The JS Chokai, an Aegis-equipped guided-missile destroyer, will spend a year in the US undergoing modifications and crew training to integrate the American-made system. The upgrade will give the vessel the ability to launch the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM), a precision weapon long regarded as one of the most effective in the US arsenal.
With a range that places targets deep inside both China and North Korea within reach, the deployment marks a major expansion of Japan’s strike capability.
A New Era for Japan’s Military
In early 2024, Tokyo signed a deal with Washington to acquire 400 Tomahawks as part of a sweeping defence build-up. Japan is increasing spending in response to what Defence Minister Gen Nakatani has described as the nation’s “most severe and complex security environment” since the Second World War.
Japan’s Defence Ministry has labelled China its “greatest strategic challenge.” In its annual white paper released in July, officials warned Beijing is “rapidly enhancing its military capability” and “intensifying” activities around the region, particularly near the Senkaku Islands, disputed territory controlled by Japan but also claimed by China.
China underscored its growing power in September, parading advanced anti-ship missiles in Beijing. Watching alongside President Xi Jinping was North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, who days later inspected new missile engines, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, fresh from signing a defence pact with Pyongyang.
Defensive or Offensive?
Tokyo has emphasised that the new weapons will strengthen “stand-off defence capabilities” to repel any invasion of Japan. However, the Tomahawk is widely seen as an offensive system.
According to the US Navy, the missile is designed for “deep land-attack warfare,” and its full designation is the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile. Manufactured by Raytheon, it has been used in combat more than 2,000 times, most recently in June when submarine-launched Tomahawks were used in US strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.
Beijing has sharply criticised Japan’s purchase, accusing Tokyo of violating its post-war pacifist constitution and warning that the move “exacerbates the momentum of an arms race” and undermines regional stability.
Upgrades Already Underway
The Chokai, a 528-foot-long, 9,500-ton destroyer with 90 vertical launch cells, began training for its new role last week by loading dummy Tomahawk munitions. The Ministry of Defence says the ship will be mission-ready by next summer after live-fire testing.
In addition to Tomahawks, the destroyer can launch a range of other munitions, including surface-to-air missiles, anti-submarine rockets, and anti-ballistic missiles.
Japan now joins a small but growing list of allies with Tomahawk capability. The Royal Navy has long deployed the missile, and Australia successfully test-fired its first Tomahawk in December 2024 from HMAS Brisbane. Canberra plans to buy 200 missiles to give its fleet long-range precision strike capability.
For Japan, the upgrade signals a decisive step away from its post-war limitations, and firmly into the front line of the Pacific power struggle.
