Russia Demanded Japan Remove U.S. Typhon Missile Systems

Russia lodged an official protest with Japan, demanding the removal from Japanese territory of U.S. Typhon systems capable of launching Tomahawk cruise missiles and SM-6 anti-aircraft missiles.

This was reported by The Japan Times.

The joint U.S.-Japan-Australia military exercise Orient Shield is taking place from September 8 to 24 throughout the country, including the island of Hokkaido.

According to Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, following the conclusion of the Orient Shield exercises, the Typhon systems are scheduled to be redeployed to a U.S. military base in Japan around mid-October. He also emphasized that this initiative “is purely a temporary deployment” for the exercises.

“The U.S. side has informed us that this is not a permanent deployment in Japan,” he stated.

This deployment will be only the third in Japan, following the system’s deployment to Kanoya Air Base in Kagoshima Prefecture in June and to the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture in 2025.

“It has been made clear to the Japanese Embassy that the deployment of this type of weapon on Japanese territory, particularly under the pretext of military exercises, is absolutely unacceptable, as it poses a threat to Russia’s security,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

According to her, Japan must return to a policy of pacifism. She emphasized Russia’s concern that the exercises will take place in areas of Japan located near Russian territory in the Far East and warned of “compensatory countermeasures.”

China also sharply criticized these moves, calling the deployment “yet another example of Japan’s accelerated remilitarization.”

The exercises will take place just a few weeks after Russian dictator Vladimir Putin visited for the first time a group of Russian-occupied islands off the eastern coast of Hokkaido, which Japan considers its “Northern Territories,” prompting a strong reaction from Tokyo.

Following this, Russia conducted high-profile missile exercises near the Southern Kuril Islands. During the exercises, the Russian Pacific Fleet deployed a strike group that included the missile cruiser Varyag, the nuclear submarine Omsk, and the Bastion coastal missile system.

Typhon

The MRC Typhon battery consists of four launchers, a mobile command post on a trailer, and other support vehicles and equipment.

Each launcher contains four cells capable of housing the available types of naval missiles: subsonic Tomahawk cruise missiles for striking ground targets, or SM-6 long-range anti-aircraft missiles capable of intercepting aerial and ballistic threats and engaging ground and surface targets.

The Mk 70 launchers of the MRC Typhon missile system are an evolution of the Mk 41 ship-based vertical launchers, which have been adapted for land-based launches.

Because their dimensions are identical to those of a standard 40-foot shipping container, they can be transported by conventional trucks.