Japan plans to modify one of its destroyers to be Tomahawk cruise missile capable by March 31, 2026, and may conduct operational firing tests the following year in the U.S., Japan’s defense minister said Tuesday.
The country is working to modify Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) destroyer JS Chokai (DDG-176) to launch the long-range, subsonic guided missiles typically used by the U.S. Navy. In a regularly scheduled Tuesday press conference, Japan Defense Minister Gen Naktani stated Japan will receive Tomahawk missiles in their current fiscal year, which spans April 1 to March 31. To enable prompt operational capability after acquiring the missiles, modifications to destroyer Chokai will be done in the same fiscal year, Naktani said.
Chokai will need to undergo launch tests and other procedures to confirm its mission readiness, including the proficiency of its crew the following year. Japan included funding for such training in its FY26 defense budget request.
According to Naktani, the U.S. is being considered as a location for the trials and test-launches.
Japan initially expressed interest in acquiring the land-attack strike missiles in 2017 as a hedge against North Korean missile attacks, USNI News previously reported. Tomahawks are expected to easily integrate into Japan’s fleet of guided-missile destroyers. Several Japanese Maritime Defense Force ship classes field the U.S.-designed Mk-41 Vertical Launch System cells that can easily accommodate the Tomahawk.
Japan agreed to purchase a total of 400 Tomahawk missiles in January 2024 through a block buy contract. The country will receive 200 Tomahawks in Block IV and 200 in Block V, as well as 14 Tactical Tomahawk Weapon Control Systems, support, training, maintenance, spares and other ancillary services and items. Deliveries are scheduled to occur during fiscal years 2025, 2026 and 2027.
Originally Japan planned for acquisition of the Tomahawks in FY26 but bumped the date forward one year, citing the “increasingly severe security environment around Japan,” which is the Japanese government’s standard description of its defense and security concerns regarding potential actions of Russia, China and North Korea.
The JMSDF began training on how to use the missile system in late March 2024. Japan plans to install the Tomahawks on its eight Aegis destroyers: four Kongō class, two Atago class and two Maya class, and on the two new Aegis system-equipped destroyers to be commissioned in 2027 and 2028.
Both Australia and the Netherlands conducted Tomahawk test launches in the U.S. recently. Destroyer HMAS Brisbane (DDG-41) conducted a launch off the West Coast of the U.S. in December 2024, while frigate HNLMS De Ruyter (F804) launched a Tomahawk cruise missile off the coast of Norfolk, Va., in early March.