TOKYO - The U.S. Typhon missile system currently deployed at a Japanese base in Kagoshima in southwestern Japan will be transferred to U.S. Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, but not permanently, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Tuesday.
Typhon has been temporarily mobilized at the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Kanoya Air Base in Kagoshima Prefecture for multilateral exercises in June and July and a Japan-U.S.-Australia joint drill in September. Its deployment in Japan has faced criticism from China and Russia.
Typhon, capable of firing Tomahawk cruise missiles, and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, will be transferred by air to Kadena Air Base around mid-October, the Defense Ministry said.
"The Defense Ministry believes that given the strategic significance of Okinawa, by storing these highly mobile assets at Kadena Air Base, the U.S. military's rapid deployment capabilities can be demonstrated more effectively," Koizumi said.
"Storing them at U.S. bases in Japan will make it easier for the Self-Defense Forces to conduct joint training with these assets more flexibly," he said, adding that the steps will contribute to strengthening the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. alliance.
But residents have voiced anger about the move, saying it further adds to the excessive burden on Okinawa of hosting U.S. military bases.
On Monday, Kadena Mayor Hiroshi Toyama protested to the Okinawa bureau of the Defense Ministry against the planned storage, saying the move ignores the feelings of the residents and is "totally unacceptable."
Koizumi said they would not be deployed at Kadena Air Base permanently and that there will be no stationing of a unit to deploy the assets.
