Reference News, March 14 - According to the Japanese "Mainichi Shimbun" website, on March 13, Japanese Defense Minister Koizumi Shinjiro announced at a press conference that the U.S.-made "Tomahawk" cruise missiles and the Norwegian-made Joint Strike Missile (JSM) have begun to be delivered to the Self-Defense Forces. The JSM is a cruise missile with both land-attack and anti-ship attack capabilities. Both types of missiles are long-range missiles, capable of being launched from outside the enemy's strike range. This delivery marks the first official delivery of foreign-made "standoff missiles" to Japan. In case of an emergency, these weapon systems can be used as a "retaliatory capability" (also known as "enemy base attack capability"), with the intended use including the targeting of missile launch bases in hostile countries.

The report said that the "Tomahawk" missiles are planned to be deployed on the Maritime Self-Defense Force's "Aegis" ship "Kirisame", originally scheduled for delivery in fiscal year 2026, but now advanced by one year. The JSM missiles will be mounted on the Air Self-Defense Force's F-35A aircraft. The initial delivery date for the JSM missiles was set for fiscal year 2021, but was delayed due to the impact of the epidemic.

Koizumi stated at the press conference: "Including standoff missiles, the defense capabilities we possess remain within the necessary minimum level, which means they will only be used when subjected to an adversary's armed attack, and this has not changed, and does not pose a threat to other countries."

On March 11, when answering the question "Japan has begun deploying long-range missiles," China's Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Jiang Bin clearly pointed out that in recent times, Japanese right-wing forces have accelerated their "militarization" actions. Japan has completely torn off the mask of "passive defense", "self-defense", and "special defense", fully demonstrating that Japan's "new militarism" is not just a dangerous trend, but a naked reality threat, seriously undermining regional peace and security.

Jiang Bin warned, "We warn Japan, the old path of military aggression is a road to self-destruction."

Translation/Editor: Liu Lin

Original: toutiao.com/article/7617043907129459246/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.