Stories
Russia Threatens Response Over US Missile Deployment in Japan.
- •Russia is angered by the deployment of the American Typhon missile system in Kyushu during joint military exercises with Japan.
- •Russia has threatened a response if the missile system remains in Japan after the exercises conclude.
- •The Typhon system can launch Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of 1,600 kilometers, potentially reaching Russia's Far East and parts of China.
- •Russia fears Japan may only relocate the Typhon system to another US base in Japan, rather than removing it entirely.
- •The deployment of Typhon is a consequence of the US withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019, which previously banned such ground-launched missiles.
Key Questions Answered
Russia objects to the deployment of the US Typhon missile system in Kyushu because it can launch Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of about 1,600 kilometers, posing a direct threat to Russia's Far East. Furthermore, Moscow doubts Japan's assurance that the system will be entirely removed after military exercises end.
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, signed in 1987 by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, banned ground-launched missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. After the US officially withdrew from the treaty in 2019, it became legally possible to deploy land-based mobile missile systems like Typhon that were previously prohibited.
China joined Russia in objecting to the deployment of the US Typhon missile system in Japan. In response to the escalating tensions surrounding the exercise, China's People's Liberation Army deployed HQ-9 long-range air defense missile systems to the Gobi Desert for sudden tactical drills.
