Japan's Self-Defense Force (JSDF) is preparing to soon conduct a live fire demonstration of its Type 12 Surface-to-Ship missile (SSM) at a weapons range in Jervis Bay, south of Sydney, ABC reported.
Friday's activity will occur on the same day Exercise Talisman Sabre 2023 is formally opened in Sydney, which will this year see South Korea also showcase its much-lauded Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher system.
Chief of staff for Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force, General Morishita Yasunori, said that his country's participation in the biennial military exercise is expanding.
"Exercise Talisman Sabre is important because it strengthens cooperation with Australia and the US, which will help maintain and strengthen a free and open Indo-Pacific," General Yasunori said in a statement.
The Type 12 Surface-to-Ship missile is a truck-mounted weapon developed by Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 2012 which has a range of around 200 kilometres.
Japan has begun working to induct an upgraded ship-launched variant of the Type 12 SSM by 2026, which will boast an extended range of between 200km and 1,000km.
A senior defence source told ABC this week's Japanese missile firing on Australian soil is a logical progression for the growing military relationship with the former World War II enemy.
"It makes a lot of sense for Japan to test fire these missiles in Australia's relatively open space rather than its own crowded and contested neighbourhood," the high-ranking officer said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
RHM/PR
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