Photo/Illutration An upgraded variant of the Type 12 surface-to-ship guided missile, seen here in this photo, could be repurposed to strike an enemy base. (Provided by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and printed in the government’s Defense of Japan annual white paper)

The Defense Ministry is weighing plans to equip its submarines with domestic long-range cruise missiles capable of striking ground-based targets, according to multiple sources.

The move coincides with a concerted push to develop a variant of the existing “Type 12” surface-to-ship guided missile with an expanded range, sources in the government and ruling parties said.

Officials said the use of submarines would give Japan the option of strike capability by stealth if the government changes its defense policy to allow the nation to attack enemy bases.

Discussions on Japan acquiring base strike capability are continuing in tandem with work to revise three key security documents--the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Program Guidelines and the Medium-Term Defense Program--by the year-end.

Talks on developing weapons capable of attacking enemy bases got under way before the government reaches a decision on whether to acquire such strike capability.

The capability to attack distant targets with long-range missiles launched from submarines far away from Japan could, however, lie outside the parameters of Japan’s traditional “exclusively defense-oriented policy.”

The government’s official view is that the nation’s defense capabilities should be limited to the minimum necessary for self-defense.

The Type 12 surface-to-ship guided missile is designed to be fired from a ground-based vehicle toward an enemy vessel. It currently has a range of about 200 kilometers.

Work is under way to upgrade the missile system to give it a range in excess of 1,000 km and develop variants that could be fired from fighter jets and ships.

The Defense Ministry said the purpose was to strengthen Japan’s “stand-off defense capability” to enable it to stage attacks from areas outside enemy missile range without compromising the safety of Self-Defense Forces personnel.

The equipment, however, could also be repurposed to strike enemy bases.

The Defense Ministry in its fiscal 2023 budget request at the end of August called for expenses to be allocated for mass-producing ground-launched Type 12 missiles with a longer range. It is pushing to have those missiles deployed in fiscal 2026.

The ministry wants to start an in-depth study on the submarine-launched missile variant during the period covered by the next Medium-Term Defense Program to be approved at the year-end, according to a government official. The program will run from fiscal 2023 through fiscal 2027.

Submarines navigate by stealth. Japan’s submarines, in particular, are said to be superior, in quietness and other features, to those of other nations, making it harder for enemy forces to detect them.

“An enemy nation cannot determine where a submarine is,” said a Defense Ministry official. “(Deploying submarine-launched missiles) would enhance the deterrent potential by making the enemy hesitate to stage attacks.”

Specific missile firing methods under consideration call for improvements in existing torpedo tubes to accommodate the new missiles and installing new launching systems.

Other missile variants, to be fired from fighter jets and ships, are also under development, another government official noted.

“I wonder if missiles of more than one launch type can be developed at the same time,” the official said with skepticism.

Ministry officials are expected to reach a final decision by the year-end.

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