A Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile Extended Range, or JASSM-ER, is launched for the first time from an F-16 Fighting Falcon over the Gulf of Mexico, Sept. 19, 2018. (Michael Jackson/U.S. Air Force)
TOKYO — Japan’s counterstrike capabilities is set to receive a boost from the U.S. Defense Department, which on Wednesday backed a $39 million sale of air-to-surface missiles for the country’s F-15J and F-35 fighters.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress that it approved the sale of 16 joint air-to-surface standoff missiles with extended range, or JASSM-ER, according to a notice on the agency’s website.
The U.S. Air Force has fielded the JASSM-ER, which has a range of 500 nautical miles, since 2014, according to manufacturer Lockheed-Martin.
“A 2,000-pound class weapon, JASSM can be employed in adverse weather conditions, day or night, using a state-of-the-art infrared seeker and enhanced digital anti-jam Global Positioning System (GPS) to dial into specific target aimpoints,” the weapons maker states on its website.
Japan stations F-35A Lightning II fighters at Misawa Air Base in the country’s northeast and has committed to purchasing 147 of the multirole stealth jets.
The country’s military also wants to arm its F-15 air superiority fighters with the new missiles, the Ministry of Defense said in a July 4 statement. It has 200 Mitsubishi F-15s, according an annual defense paper released last summer.
Sixty-eight of the fighters are being upgraded to mount stand-off missiles, according to a report posted on the ministry’s website. Stand-off missiles allow fighters to reach enemy targets while remaining beyond the range of anti-air missiles.
In recent years, China has rapidly expanded its military and pressed territorial claims in Taiwan and in the South and East China seas. Japan has moved to reinterpret its pacifist constitution to allow its forces counterstrike capability against enemies in times of war.
China has more than 1,900 ballistic missiles that can reach Japan, according to a 2022 Pentagon report on Beijing’s military capabilities.
The approval for Japan’s air-to-ground missile purchase comes just over a year after the U.S. approved a $2.35 billion sale of 400 Tomahawk missiles to Japan.
Sales of military hardware to foreign governments are approved by the State Department and carried out by the Defense Department, unless Congress, once notified, moves to block them.
The Tomahawks, also used by the U.S. Navy, can be launched from Aegis destroyers of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. A Tomahawk can strike targets at a range of 1,000 miles, according to its maker, Raytheon Technologies.
The air-to-ground missile sale includes training munitions, anti-jam global positioning receivers, support equipment, spare parts, accessories, repair and return support, software, personnel training, and airlift and transport support, according to the U.S. sale approval.
