The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) has held an induction ceremony on the 5th of April marking the completion of the deployment of mobile anti-ship and surface-air-missiles on Japan’s remote outer islands in the East China Sea.
The deployment saw the transfer of an unspecified number of truck-mounted launcher units for the Type 03 surface-to-air missile (Chu-SAM Kai) and Type 12 anti-ship missiles deployed to the island of Miyako-jima, which forms part of Japan’s southernmost Okinawa Prefecture.
Other reports said that the deployment also comprised of 180 JGSDF personnel.
This deployment is part of an effort by Japan to refocus its defence posture to improve its ability to defend its remote southwestern islands. Miyako-jima lies south of the disputed Senkaku Islands that are administered by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan, although the latter is not actively pursuing its claim.
The islands, which the Chinese call Diaoyu islands, are believed to hold substantial deposits of oil and gas, and China has in recent years regularly sent its coast guard vessels into the contiguous zone of the islands to bolster its claims.
In addition, China’s increasingly powerful military has also stepped up transits through the Miyako Strait. The body of water separates Miyako-jima from the island of Okinawa, and Chinese military ships and aircraft have used the international waters and airspace to enter the Western Pacific
