Japan plans purchase of up to 500 U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles

$1.6bn allocated for planned deal to boost counterstrike capability

A Tomahawk cruise missile is launched from the guided-missile destroyer USS Barry in the Mediterranean Sea in March 2011. (Handout photo from the U.S. Navy)   © Reuters  

 

TOKYO -- Japan aims to ink a deal in fiscal 2023 to buy as many as 500 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the U.S., bolstering its long-range strike capability as part of a defense build-up.

The budget for the fiscal year beginning in April, now under consideration by parliament, allots 211.3 billion yen ($1.59 billion) for the purchase, to be negotiated through Washington's Foreign Military Sales program. This sum includes related costs such as storage containers.