On January 17, Japan’s Ministry of Defense announced that it had signed a letter of offer and acceptance for a deal with the U.S. government for 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles and supporting infrastructure.
Of the 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles, 200 are Block IV variants and 200 are Block V variants. These missiles can hit targets up to 1,000 miles away.
The contract includes 14 Tactical Tomahawk Weapon Control Systems, support, training, and maintenance support. Japan is planning on installing the Tomahawk missiles on 8 of their destroyers.
According to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the estimated value of the deal is $2.35 billion.
Increased tensions with China and North Korea have pushed the Japanese government to pledge to double its annual defense spending to $68 billion by 2027, making it the world’s 3rd largest military spender, according to Defense News.
