A Japanese destroyer will test-fire powerful Tomahawk cruise missiles off Southern California this summer after being taught how to do so in recent months by Navy personnel in San Diego.
The exercise represents a deepening in the long-standing military alliance between the U.S. and Japan, countries that want to maintain peace and open sea lanes in the sprawling Indo-Pacific.
The missiles will be launched by the JS Chokai, a 528-foot destroyer that traveled to San Diego so its crew could learn how to handle one of the most potent long-range, subsonic weapons in existence.
The upcoming test launches were announced Thursday at Naval Base San Diego, where the U.S. has also been busy lately dispatching warships to the Middle East for the war against Iran.
The launches “represent a critically important undertaking for strengthening the overall deterrence and response capabilities of the United States and Japan alliance,” said Vice Admiral Yoshihiro Goka of the Japan Self-Defense Forces.
He was flanked by Vice Admiral John F.G. Wade, commander of San Diego-based Third Fleet.
“The Japan-United States alliance remains one of the most enduring and important maritime partnerships in the world,” Wade said during a tightly scripted ceremony on the Chokai.
Last year, Japan publicly committed to buying at least 400 American-made Tomahawks, missiles that were originally developed at the Convair Division of General Dynamics in San Diego in the 1970s.
Partnerships between Third Fleet and the Japan Self-Defense Forces are common. In 2024, the Japanese aircraft carrier JS Kaga spent about six weeks off San Diego testing F-35B fighter jets with operational support from the Navy. Japan began to formally use the jets in February.
Japan will test-fire cruise missiles west of San Diego with guidance from U.S. Navy
