Japan deploys long-range missiles for joint US military drill — SkimNews
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- Keen Sword drill began October 19 with roughly 45,000 Japanese Self-Defense Forces and 12,000 US troops — one of the largest Japan-US exercises to date, running through October 29 across multiple regions of Japan.
- Type 25 surface-to-ship missiles (1,000km range) were deployed outside their Kumamoto garrison in southern Kyushu for the first time since arriving in early 2026, placed at a training ground in the region.
- Japan's Self-Defense Forces confirmed there will be no live-fire exercises; the drill is focused on verifying launch procedures for attacking naval vessels at sea.
- The Type 25 missile can reach waters close to Taiwan, per Nikkei and other local media — a strategic signal given PM Takaichi's hint last November that Japan could act militarily in a Taiwan contingency.
- U.S. Marine Corps units will deploy the NMESIS unmanned surface-to-ship missile system and the MADIS integrated air defence system in Okinawa as part of the same exercise.
- Joint Staff head Hiroaki Uchikura told reporters the near-maximum scale reflects both a 'heightened sense of crisis' and strong demand for training in Japan's south-western region.
Why it matters: This is the first operational positioning of 1,000km-range Type 25 missiles outside their garrison, paired with a near-record 57,000-personnel joint exercise — Japan's most concrete signal yet that its military is repositioning from passive defense toward active deterrence over Taiwan, where Beijing has not ruled out using force.
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