Keen Sword 27: Japan Moves Type-25 Missiles to Yonaguni

Japan has moved its longest-range missiles onto Yonaguni, an island about 110 kilometers from Taiwan, as about 57,000 Japanese and American troops began their largest joint drill of the year on Oct. 19.

The Type-25 surface-to-ship missile, which can fly about 1,000 kilometers, or 620 miles, far enough to reach mainland China, is on the island for the first time as part of the exercise Keen Sword 27, The Associated Press reported. It will not be fired during the drills.

The exercise runs through Oct. 29 and is focused on defending Japan’s southwestern islands, the chain that stretches from Kyushu toward Taiwan.

A drill near its maximum size

About 45,000 members of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and about 12,000 U.S. troops are taking part, according to AP. Keen Sword is held every two years. Japan’s Joint Staff says the exercise began in fiscal 1985 and that this is the 18th field-training edition, according to a Joint Staff release.

The opening ceremony was held on Ishigaki, in Okinawa Prefecture. Adm. Tateki Tawara, commander of Japan’s Joint Operations Command, said the aim was to prevent a crisis. “In order to do so, it is essential to be fully prepared and cooperate with our allies and partners to prevent the crisis,” he said, according to AP.

Gen. Hiroaki Uchikura, chief of Japan’s Joint Staff, called the drill “highly significant” and said its near-maximum scale reflected a “sense of crisis,” South Korea’s SBS reported, citing the Mainichi newspaper. He denied it was aimed at any particular country, AP reported.

Seven other countries are joining parts of the exercise. France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the Philippines are taking part for the first time, while Australia and Canada have joined before, according to AP and Japan’s Joint Staff.

The training covers amphibious landings, air and missile defense, mine sweeping, intelligence, logistics and moving casualties, including on Tanegashima island. Live firing was scheduled on Oki-Daito, an island about 500 kilometers southeast of Okinawa. The exercise also includes training in the space, cyber and electromagnetic domains, according to Japan’s Joint Staff.

The missiles now on the front line

The Type-25 is Japan’s upgraded version of the Type-12 anti-ship missile built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

Japan’s Defense Ministry designated the Type-25 and first deployed it at Camp Kengun in Kumamoto on March 31, 2026, alongside a new hypersonic glide weapon at Camp Fuji, Jiji Press reported. They were the Self-Defense Forces’ first weapons able to strike enemy bases, a “counterstrike” capability Japan adopted in its 2022 security strategy, AP reported.

U.S. Marines brought their own weapons to the same island. The Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, or NMESIS, a remotely operated launcher that fires Naval Strike Missiles from the back of a light tactical vehicle, and the MADIS short-range air defense system are both on Yonaguni for the first time with the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment, Defense News reported.

System	Country	Type	Where	Reported range
Type-25 surface-to-ship missile	Japan	Anti-ship and land-attack missile	Yonaguni (first time)	About 1,000 km
NMESIS	U.S. Marines	Anti-ship missile launcher	Yonaguni (first time)	About 185 km (115 miles)
MADIS	U.S. Marines	Short-range air defense	Yonaguni (first time)	Short range
HIMARS	U.S.	Rocket artillery	Ishigaki	Depends on munition
Type-88 surface-to-ship missile	Japan	Anti-ship missile	Exercise area	Not stated
Type-03 Chu-SAM Kai	Japan	Medium-range air defense	Exercise area	Not stated

The U.S. Army’s Typhon missile launcher is moving to Okinawa, but it was not confirmed whether it would be used in the exercise, Defense News reported. The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt docked at Yokosuka on Oct. 16, Stars and Stripes reported.

Why Yonaguni matters

Yonaguni is Japan’s westernmost inhabited island. On rare clear days, Taiwan can be seen from the island. Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force opened a radar station there in 2016.

In 2022, during Chinese military drills around Taiwan, a Chinese ballistic missile landed about 80 kilometers from the island. In June 2026, Japan reported Chinese coast guard ships entering its exclusive economic zone near Yonaguni, Defense News reported.

Not everyone on the island wants the attention. Yonaguni Mayor Tsuneo Uechi said the island is not ready for exercises beyond its capacity and that Osprey aircraft will not take part, according to Defense News, citing the Mainichi newspaper. Ospreys are a sore point: during the last Keen Sword, in 2024, a Japanese Osprey struck the ground during takeoff, and all 17 of Japan’s Ospreys were grounded afterward, Defense News reported. Protests against the exercise were also held near bases elsewhere in Japan.

China’s carrier sails at the same time

The drills overlap with a Chinese carrier deployment. China’s aircraft carrier Liaoning led a strike group into the western Pacific this month, and China said the drill was part of the navy’s annual training plan and targeted “no specific country or objective,” the South China Morning Post reported.

Relations between Tokyo and Beijing have been strained since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said about a year ago that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could justify Japanese involvement, a remark that angered Beijing, AP reported.

A long buildup on the southwestern islands

Keen Sword has grown along with Japan’s defense spending. The 2010 edition involved about 34,000 Japanese and 10,000 U.S. troops, Stars and Stripes reported. In 2024, Keen Sword 25 ran from Oct. 23 to Nov. 1 with Australia and Canada as partners, according to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

Japan is also preparing ship-launched and air-launched versions of the Type-25, which are due in fiscal 2027, on F-2 fighters at Hyakuri Air Base and on the destroyer Teruzuki, Naval News reported. Those would let the same missile fly from destroyers and fighter jets, not just from trucks on islands like Yonaguni.