The US has approved the sale of 600 Tomahawk cruise missiles in Block IV and Block V configurations to Japan at a cost of $2.4 billion

The US State Department approved some big deals this week. We have already written about the AIM-9X Sidewinder and SM-6 missiles for the Republic of Korea. Also approved is a potential Tomahawk sale to Japan.

Here's What We Know

Japan last year, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine and increased North Korean missile activity, decided to beef up its defence and attack capabilities. Part of the effort included ordering US cruise missiles with a range of 1,500 kilometres.

The US State Department has approved the potential sale of 400 Block IV and 200 Block V missiles, as well as 14 control systems, software and related equipment. The potential deal is worth $2.4bn.

Japan is investing more than $800 million to modernise Aegis ships to arm them with Tomahawk cruise missiles. The Block V configuration has the ability to strike moving objects and can change target right in flight.

So far, there are only two Tomahawk operators in the world: the US and the UK. In addition to Japan, the Netherlands, Australia and Canada want to arm American cruise missiles. And Australia has already officially announced the purchase of 220 missiles worth $1.3 billion.

Source: DSCA