Keen Sword, the largest U.S.-Japan biennial joint drill, will feature two key systems of the Marine Corps’ littoral force: the anti-ship NMESIS (Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System) and air-defense MADIS (Marine Air Defense Integrated System).

Yonaguni’s local government disclosed the deployment on Friday, a day after the Okinawa Defense Bureau relayed deployment plans on Oct. 1.

The systems will be deployed to Yonaguni for the first time, as this year’s iteration shifts to ground-based, multi-island, sea-denial operations aimed at distributing American and Japanese forces across the southwestern islands.

The deployment also reflects a broader shift by the United States and Japan toward mobile missile and air-defense systems that can operate from scattered islands.

NMESIS and MADIS form the cornerstone of the U.S. Marine Corps’ force design modernization and restructuring plan, which moves away from heavy armored platforms to focus on small-unit, expeditionary forces that can capture and defend islands.

NMESIS can strike targets at around 115 miles and could threaten ships operating in waters around Taiwan. The reported deployment, in turn, has drawn criticism from Chinese military experts even while China’s PLA Navy and coast guard vessels have increased activities around Taiwan.

The NMESIS and MADIS systems first arrived with the Okinawa-based 12th Marine Littoral Regiment 3rd Marine Division in June. The units were earlier deployed to the Philippines’ northern Batanes Islands and western Laoag province during the Balikatan drills.

The deployment comes as Japan tests what defense officials describe as standoff-strike capabilities, missile systems that can strike targets far from enemy weapons, while strengthening its southwestern islands for distributed military operations.

According to the Ministry of Defense, troops from nine countries, including the Australian and French armies, will join 45,000 Japanese Self-Defense Forces personnel for this year’s exercise, which will run from Oct. 19 to 29.

The exercise will also bring together a number of U.S. and Japanese ground-based missile systems.

The U.S. Army will deploy HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems) weapons to Camp Ishigaki, some 80 miles from Yonaguni.

The Army’s Typhon missile launcher will also be moved to Okinawa mid-month, although no disclosures have been made about whether the mid-range system will be used for the exercise.

In past iterations of the drill, the USS George Washington joined the exercises, but the carrier strike group was sent to the Arabian Sea in August to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln, which was returning home after a prolonged deployment.

That prominent naval absence is expected to emphasize the exercise scenario shift toward a land-based network of mobile systems.

Last year, exercises in Yonaguni focused on maximizing the island as a forward operating base. This year, Keen Sword will showcase the Ground Self-Defense Force’s three anti-ship missile systems, which are the core of Japan’s long-range standoff-strike capabilities.

The JGSDF will train with the new ground-launched Type-25 surface-to-ship guided missile system, formerly known as the upgraded Type-12, which was fielded across the Nansei Islands in late March. The Type-25 SSM has a strike reach of 1,000 kilometers.

The lineup also includes the Type-88 ground-to-ship missile and the upgraded Type 03 Chu-SAM Kai medium-range ground-to-air guided missile.

Keen Sword was originally planned as a much larger exercise, local government officials said, but opposition forced the ministry to scale it down to its current iteration.

Yonaguni is Japan’s last inhabited island in the Nansei, a chain of scattered islands in southwestern Okinawa and a fast-emerging flashpoint amid rising tensions around Taiwan.

The JGSDF set up a radar and surveillance system on the island in 2016 to fill a “surveillance vacuum” in the seascapes stretching from the island to Taiwan, according to officials.

The island has seen increased joint exercises between Japanese and U.S. troops while it faces incursions from Chinese ships.

In June this year, the government reported incursions by Chinese Coast Guard ships encroaching on Japan’s exclusive economic zone between Yonaguni and Taiwan. In 2022, China’s ballistic missile landed just 80 kilometers from the island.

While tensions surround the island, local officials have raised concerns about the use of civilian roads, ports, and airways.

Large equipment for the exercise will be transported by sea through Kubura Port, and local authorities have asked residents to avoid using roads during the movement of military equipment.

There are also concerns after a Japan Self-Defense Forces V-22 Osprey was involved in a ground-strike incident in the same exercise in 2024. The incident prompted then-defense minister Gen Nakatani to order the grounding of Japan’s 17 Osprey aircraft.

This year, however, the V-22 Osprey will not participate, Yonaguni Mayor Tsuneo Uechi told Mainichi Shimbun on Oct. 2.

While the island understands the need for military training, Uechi said it is not ready for large-scale exercises that exceed the island’s capacity. The local government remains opposed to the exercises and continues to hold talks with the defense ministry.

Department of War Undersecretary for Policy Elbridge Colby made the remarks in Manila on Monday amid growing concerns that China has been narrowing the gap — or eclipsing — U.S. military capabilities, as its demands in the Middle East have potentially drained stockpiles.

“There’s been a lot of news about the United States military being stretched. Please don’t be misinformed,” Colby told Manila’s defense and security elites at a closed-door event organized by the Stratbase Institute think tank.

“The United States military, and especially including those [maritime and aerospace] capabilities, are ready and capable of filling the priority missions that the president has given to them,” Colby said.

Colby, one of the Pentagon’s leading strategists, has pushed to prioritize the Indo-Pacific and East Asia over the Middle East and Europe. The Manila stop is the first in a week-long Southeast Asian tour that includes visits to Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia.

His visit also comes amid an increasingly tense period between Manila and Beijing following a confrontation in Second Thomas Shoal on July 20, when Chinese personnel hit and wounded a Philippine Navy sailor in the head.

The incident triggered another tit-for-tat between Manila and Beijing over the contents of a highly classified “provisional agreement” reportedly signed in 2024 that allows Philippine vessels to safely deliver supplies to troops stationed aboard the BRP Sierra Madre floating outpost.

After last month’s incident, officials noted that China has appeared more assertive, indicating a shift in how China perceives the implications of the mutual defense treaty.

Tensions have also intensified as China has routinely deployed carrier strike groups in the West Philippine Sea, and last month, fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile toward the Pacific.

While military deterrence forms one component of the U.S. strategy in the Indo-Pacific, Washington is employing a “strategy of strong, clear, but quiet” action designed to address the challenge without altering the status quo, according to Colby.

“In terms of our relationship with China, I think we’ve been able to communicate…our approach directly to Chinese counterparts,” Colby said.

“We combine a clear diplomatic line, a policy of respect towards the People’s Republic [of China], clarity about…our being in favor of the status quo, along with…strength in terms of being willing to defend our interests and those of our allies like the Philippines,” he added.

Apart from strengthening the U.S.’ forward posture and fielding combat-credible forces, Colby noted that measures are being set up, albeit quietly, to allow for the U.S. to come to the Philippines’ aid.

Colby described the U.S. approach to the region as “defensive” and “aligns with the interests of regional states.”

“We’re not trying to dominate this whole region. It’s a strategy of denial, designed to deny any state the ability to become the regional hegemon,” Colby said.

The visit comes a week after the Pacific Command and the Philippine armed forces signed an eight-point partnership plan for 2027, which includes an undisclosed series of joint military exercises, and before President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the U.S. in September.

“If you are trying to project power, whoever you are, into the aerospace and maritime environment in the Indo-Pacific, you are going to come up against the very best military in the world at its apex predator status,” Colby concluded.

Col. Dennis Hernandez of the Philippine Marines told Defense News the cruise missile was launched at around 12:10 a.m local time on May 5 and landed at the impact area within Fort Magsaysay, the Army’s main battle camp, in Laur, Nueva Ecija, roughly an hour later.

“The missile was very precise. Let’s say if you want to hit a window from a far distance, it lands directly into that window,” Hernandez said. “This skimming missile traveled all the way from Tacloban to the target in Laur.”

Exercise officials meant for the Tomahawk missile to support ground troops in a night land maneuver exercise led by the 25th Infantry Division in Fort Magsaysay, part of the ongoing Balikatan annual joint drills between American and Filipino troops.

This year’s Balikatan drill involves roughly 17,000 troops from Japan, Australia, France, Canada and New Zealand.

The Typhon launcher’s presence in the Philippines, let alone a test-firing of one of its variable munitions, has irked Chinese officials because of its long-range capability, especially when loaded with Tomahawks.

Philippine officials said training on the Typhon missile system will help guide future acquisitions.

There was some back-and-forth earlier in the exercise about whether the Typhon launch would happen at all. Local defense officials initially announced it for May 4 or May 5, but U.S. military officials suggested it could be canceled because of unspecified “obstacles.”

In the end, the launch was timed ahead of a joint maritime strike in Ilocos Norte, according to exercise planners. That event will feature the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s Type 88 anti-ship missile system and the U.S. Marine Corps’ NMESIS weapon, a mobile, shore-based missile launcher designed to sink ships.

An April 27 navigational warning issued by the Philippine Coast Guard in Eastern Visayas, where Tacloban City is located, urged locals to take precautionary measures from May 5 until May 7 due to activities in the waters off San Pedro Bay during the Balikatan exercises.

Later, another notice was issued to warn residents of a missile-related activity involving the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile system (TLAM).

“Using the Tomahawk was planned — but it depended on the scenario on the ground. There’s a control group that controls the scenario and the exercise and if it is needed, then it is fired,” Hernandez explained.

“It just so happened that the scenario last night required using the Tomahawk to support ground troops,” he added.

Gordon Arthur contributed to this report.

Editor’s note: This story was updated the correct the distance traveled by the Tomahawk missile and the exact launch time.

This development marks a key shift in the country’s defense strategy. Japan committed to acquiring 400 Tomahawks last year to equip its eight Aegis destroyers as part of a larger standoff capability, which includes fielding upgraded Type 12 missiles in the southwest and deploying hyper velocity gliding projectile systems across the country.

The existing missile defense network may not be fully capable of responding to threats, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters in a briefing on Friday.

“To prevent missiles flying through the missile defense network and to prevent further armed attacks, it is necessary to … have the ability to counterattack. Stand-off missiles can also be used for this counterattack ability,” Koizumi said.

The destroyer’s launcher modification marks a landmark milestone in the country’s efforts to rapidly deploy stand-off capabilities and bolster deterrence measures, he added.

Stand-off weaponry describes a class of arms with ranges so long that operators can fire them from a safe distance, without fearing countermeasures capable of reaching them.

The defense ministry introduced stand-off capabilities in 2017, and it formed the core of the security strategy shift in 2020, which later expanded to additional policy documents, including a detailed buildup plan in the country’s southwest in 2022.

The Tomahawk cruise missiles can be launched from ships or submarines with a range of over 1,600km. The Japanese variant can be rerouted during flight, and advanced versions are capable of hitting moving targets.

The refitted JS Chokai can load and fire both the Block IV and V variants of the cruise missiles.

JS Chokai arrived at Naval Base San Diego, California, in October 2025 for renovations and crew training with the U.S. Third Fleet. Live-fire training is scheduled for August, before JS Chokai returns to its home port in Sasebo Naval Base in the southwestern Kyushu Island in September.

Japan is moving toward a “denial and limited strike” model by fast-tracking the implementation of its 2022 strategy, maritime security expert Benjamin Blandin told Defense News. Blandin is a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research in Taiwan.

“Japan is operationalizing a long overdue counterstrike capability, shifting from strict homeland defense to semi-regional deterrence by being able to strike ground and naval targets at up to 1000 km,” Blandin said.

Japan’s existing defense force, including its stand-off missile capability, is the “minimum necessary for self-defense,” Koizumi said, adding that these would only be used “in the event of an armed attack from another country … and it does not pose a threat to other countries.”

Analysts have raised worries that the U.S. Tomahawk stockpile may be strained after reports indicated that over 800 missiles were used in four weeks during Operation Epic Fury against Iran, and this might impact missile orders for allies, including Japan.

Blandin said Japan’s Tomahawk orders are unlikely to be affected immediately, but prolonged military campaigns in the Middle East could cause minor to moderate setbacks.

American manufacturer RTX, in a Feb. 4 press release, said it had signed five agreements with the U.S. Department of Defense to boost production and expedite deliveries of Land Attack and Maritime Strike variants of the Tomahawk cruise missiles, with annual production expected to increase to more than 1,000.

“No major impact expected in regards to Iran, as deliveries will not take place all at once but probably over the course of a few years,” Blandin said. “In any case, the U.S. will likely prioritize Japan as a key Indo-Pacific ally.”

The nomination comes as North Korea continues missile launch tests, and its leader Kim Jong Un visits Russia to meet with his counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Shin served in the military for 35 years, rising to lieutenant general before retiring in 2016. He was vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2015 and led the Capital Defense Command from 2012 to 2013. He entered politics shortly after retiring from the military, and he now serves in the National Assembly as a member of the ruling People Power Party.

“The challenges to the internal security environment are very serious,” Shin said in a speech as he was nominated for the position. “It is not enough that people live comfortably. If I become the minister of national defense, what will I do? I will do my best to make a soldier worthy of a soldier, and an army worthy of an army.”

The 65-year-old is regarded as a hardliner on North Korea policy. He has criticized South Korea’s Sunshine Policy, which calls for engagement between the neighbors, in seminars and speeches held in local churches from 2017 to 2022.

He has also insisted on abolishing the inter-Korean deal, also known as the 9/19 agreement, that saw the two Koreas pledge to make a joint military buffer zone. The agreement, Shin has said, creates “military vulnerabilities.” His position remains unchanged, and he intends to review the agreement to provide supplementary changes “in the shortest possible time,” he told the press on Thursday.

As a lawmaker, Shin has criticized the Navy’s 500 million won (U.S. $376,000) CVX aircraft carrier program and panned defense reforms initiated under President Moon Jae-in, which reduced the size of the military in favor of acquiring advanced fighter jets and destroyers.

“Shin’s perspective is that troop reductions could weaken deterrence against North Korea,” according to defense analyst Ju Hyung Kim of Japan’s National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.

As defense minister, Shin would likely “advocate [for] maintaining a significant number of ground troops and increase hardware facilities to support the Army in response to North Korea’s provocations,” Ju said.

Also last week, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida appointed Minoru Kihara as the country’s new defense minister. Kihara, a former national security adviser under the Abe and Suga administrations, is seasoned in Japan-Taiwan relations.

The reshuffling in both countries may be part of efforts to align each other’s defense capabilities after military agreements were brokered in Washington in August, Ju said, given troop movements and coverage areas were not clearly defined amid talks between South Korea, Japan and the U.S.

“Up to now, South Korea is not proactive,” Ju said. “New appointments might enable forces in South Korea to expand its range of operations and define how South Korea can help, particularly in providing airfield logistical support.”

Japan has steadily built its ballistic missile defense system and plans to begin test production of medium-range surface-to-air missiles this year. South Korea has yet to expand its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, which stalled due to local dissent.

“Once Japan has its long-range hypersonic weapons in the future, it will need to coordinate with South Korea,” Ju said. “If South Korea does not align or clarify the division of labor, it will be a chaotic situation for South Korea.”