Japan wants to buy up to 500 American Tomahawk cruise missiles, which can hit targets at ranges up to 1,850 kilometers - the contract could cost more than $1 billion

We recently wrote that Japan has increased its interest in the Tomahawk cruise missile. Now JapanNews has revealed several details about the potential deal, citing a source in the country's defense ministry.

Here's What We Know

We first wrote about Tokyo wanting to buy Raytheon's missiles back in late October. Two weeks later, on November 13, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told U.S. President Joe Biden.

According to JapanNews, the Land of the Rising Sun intends to buy up to 500 Tomahawk cruise missiles by 2027. The final volume will depend not only on Japan's requirements, but also on Raytheon's production capacity. The price of one missile is $1.5-2 million, that is, the minimum contract value will be in the range of $0.75-1 billion when buying 500 missiles without taking into account training ammunition, costs for software, training and equipment.

It is worth noting that Raytheon's current operators are only the United States and the United Kingdom. Japan could become the third country to receive these cruise missiles. Also in line for the Tomahawk is Australia. The U.S. approved the sale of the missiles after the AUKUS (Australia, UK, US) alliance was formed last year.

The maximum launch range of Block IV level Tomahawk is 1,850 km. In 2026 Japan will also complete the modernization of its own Type 12 missiles, which will be able to hit targets at a range of up to 1200 km (currently 200 km).

Source: JapanNews

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