Japan deploys missile launcher to easternmost island for first time

Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) has announced the first deployment of a surface-to-ship missile launcher to the country's easternmost island, a move analysts say is aimed at strengthening defences in the Pacific.

In a social media post on Sunday, the GSDF said it stationed a Type-12 surface-to-ship missile launcher and target-acquisition reconnaissance drones on Minamitorishima Island earlier this month, Caliber.Az reports, citing Japanese media.

Although the Type-12 missile system is capable of striking targets more than 100 kilometres away, the missiles themselves were not deployed to the island.

Minamitorishima, part of Tokyo's Ogasawara island chain, lies about 2,000 kilometres southeast of Japan's main island of Honshu.

According to the GSDF, tests confirmed that the newly deployed equipment is functioning properly on the remote island.

The force plans to begin live-fire exercises there as early as the next fiscal year, which starts in April 2027.

The military equipment was transported aboard a private ferry contracted by Japan's Defence Ministry, which was seen departing from a port in Chiba City, east of Tokyo, on June 8.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov