Japan is developing a longer-range, air-launched anti-ship cruise missile.
The reason? China’s navy is deploying longer-range anti-aircraft missiles, which means Japanese aircraft will have to launch their anti-ship weapons from longer range or risk being shot down.
Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya cited longer-range air defenses on warships belonging to “some countries,” though there could be little doubt that he was referring to one nation in particular.
“The plan involves extending the range of Japan s supersonic ASM-3 air-to-ship missiles, which are said to have a range of less than 200 kilometers [124 miles], to over 400 km [249 miles], with the aim of beefing up Tokyo s ability to defend a chain of outlying islands in the southwest,” according to Japan’s Mainichi newspaper several years back.