Defense & Security

GSDF Tests Surface-to-Ship Missile in Japan for 1st Time, Responding to Tense Security Environment

Ground Self-Defense Force via AP
A Type 88 missile is test-fired at the Shizunai firing range in Hokkaido on Tuesday.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:52 JST, June 25, 2025

SAPPORO — The Ground Self-Defense Force test-fired a surface-to-ship missile at its range in Hokkaido on Tuesday, the first drill of its kind conducted in Japan.

A Type 88 test missile was fired at the Shizunai anti-aircraft range toward a target boat set about 40 kilometers off the coast.

The missile was fired as part of a training period at the range that runs through Sunday, and another missile is scheduled to be fired before it is over.

While the missiles have been tested in the United States and Australia, the GSDF found it needed to do so in Japan to improve precision, given the increasingly severe security environment facing the country.