Japanese Destroyer to Test-Fire Tomahawk in U.S.

Tokyo, Sept. 27 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Aegis destroyer Chokai on Friday left for the United States, where it will test-fire a U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missile, the Japanese Defense Ministry said. The Chokai, based at the MSDF Sasebo base in Nagasaki Prefecture, southwestern Japan, will undergo a software update in the United States to add a Tomahawk launch function. The move will allow the MSDF to own weapons capable of directly attacking foreign territories. The Japanese government adopted a plan in 2022 to possess counterattack capabilities. With a range of some 1,600 kilometers, Tomahawks were used in the Gulf War and the attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, becoming a symbol of the U.S. military’s preemptive strike capability. The Chokai will stay in the United States until the middle of September 2026. Crew members will be trained mainly at a naval base in San Diego to launch Tomahawks. Chokai crew members underwent training to load mock Tomahawks on the vessel at the MSDF Yokosuka base, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, on Thursday with the support of the U.S. Navy. The MSDF plans to install Tomahawks on other destroyers. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]