A transport vehicle equipped with Japan's Type 25 High-Speed Glide Bomb (25HVGP) participates in live-fire training at the Higashi-Fuji training ground in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, on June 7. [Photo: AFP/Yonhap]
Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) has publicly unveiled a counterstrike missile with a range of several hundred kilometers for the first time.
According to Japanese media, including the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei), the GSDF conducted a "Fuji Comprehensive Firepower Exercise" on June 7 at the Higashi-Fuji training ground in Shizuoka Prefecture. This large-scale live-fire training simulated the defense of remote islands.
The exercise featured not only conventional tanks and drones but also unmanned vehicles currently under development. It marked the first appearance of the Type 25 High-Speed Glide Bomb (25HVGP), which was deployed to the Fuji base in Shizuoka Prefecture in March.
The Type 25 High-Speed Glide Bomb is a missile designed for counterstrike capabilities. Its warhead reportedly travels at speeds exceeding the speed of sound, making it difficult for enemies to intercept.
Currently, the missile has a range of several hundred kilometers, but Japan plans to enhance its capabilities to extend the range to 2,000 kilometers in the future.
In March, the Japanese government also deployed the Type 25 anti-ship guided missile, which has a range of approximately 1,000 kilometers, to the GSDF base in Kumamoto Prefecture.
This training exercise is interpreted as a response to China's increasing maritime assertiveness. Yonaguni Island in Okinawa Prefecture is only 110 kilometers away from Taiwan.
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi remarked before the exercise, "Japan is currently facing the most serious and complex security environment since the end of World War II."
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.