U.S. Informs Japan of Tomahawk Missile Delivery Delays: FT

Washington, May 23 (Jiji Press)–U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi during a telephone conversation early this month that there would be delays in the delivery of the US-made Tomahawk cruise missiles to the Japanese side, the Financial Times reported Saturday. The Japanese government has signed a contract with the U.S. government to acquire up to 400 Tomahawk missiles between fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2027. “Washington had warned that the delays could add as much as two years to the current delivery schedule,” the British newspaper reported in its online edition, quoting one person familiar with the situation. The U.S. military has consumed a large number of missiles through its military operation against Iran, according to the report. An analysis released in April by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a U.S. think tank, estimated that the U.S. military fired more than 1,000, or about 30 pct, of its stockpile of about 3,100 Tomahawks in Iran. Tomahawks have a maximum range of about 1,600 kilometers and are regarded as one of the pillars of Japan’s efforts to improve its standoff defense capabilities to deal with adversaries from outside their firing range. In March, Koizumi said the delivery of Tomahawks to the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force had begun. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]