Japan’s MSDF Destroyer Modified to Launch Tomahawks

By Kayo Goto Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

13:35 JST, March 28, 2026

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The Defense Ministry announced Friday (Japan time ) that the Maritime Self-Defense Force Aegis-equipped destroyer Chokai had completed modifications in the United States and is now capable of launching long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.

The U.S.-made Tomahawk has a range exceeding 1,600 kilometers, serving as a mainstay of the counterattack capabilities designed to strike enemy missile launch sites and other targets.

Chokai became the first MSDF vessel to possess Tomahawk launch capability. The ministry plans to acquire up to 400 Tomahawk missiles and will proceed with modifications to enable all of its eight Aegis-equipped destroyers to launch them.

About 200 people from Japan and the United States attended a ceremony on Thursday on the vessel docked at a U.S. Navy base in San Diego, Calif.

Yoshihiro Goka, commander of the MSDF Fleet Surface Force, said, “This is an important initiative to strengthen our deterrence capabilities amid the increasingly severe security environment.”

John Wade, commander of the U.S. Third Fleet, vowed to fully commit to cooperating with the MSDF.

After the ceremony, Goka told reporters that the MSDF plans to conduct live-fire tests sometime before the end of August.

Now equipped with counterattack capabilities, the Chokai is scheduled to return to Japan in mid-September and begin operations based at the MSDF’s Sasebo base in Nagasaki Prefecture.