TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan plans to deploy 1,000 long-range missiles to boost its response capabilities, the Yomiuri daily reported on Sunday.
The missiles would be existing models, modified to extend their range from 100 km to 1,000 km, the newspaper said, citing government sources.
They would be deployed around the Nansei archipelago, southwest of Japan, and would be able to reach the North Korean and Chinese coasts, Yomiuri said.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The move comes as Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said earlier this month that five ballistic missiles fired by China during Beijing-led military exercises around Taiwan appeared to have landed in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). from Japan.
These maneuvers, the largest ever undertaken by China in the Taiwan Strait, have exacerbated tensions in the region as never for 25 years.
(Report Rocky Swift; French version Camille Raynaud)
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