US approves USD2.35 billion sale of Tomahawk missiles to Japan

The US Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Chafee seen here firing a Tomahawk Block V missile during an exercise on 1 December 2020. The US has approved a possible sale of the weapon to Japan. (US NAVAIR)

The US State Department has approved a possible sale of Block IV and Block V Tomahawk missiles and associated equipment to Japan.

A notice published by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) on 17 November disclosed that the sale is estimated to be worth some USD2.35 billion.

Japan has requested to buy up to 200 Block IV and 200 Block V missiles and 14 Tactical Tomahawk Weapon Control System units, said the DSCA in its notice.

“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a major ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific region,” read the DSCA notice.

“The proposed sale will improve Japan's capability to meet current and future threats by providing a long-range, conventional surface-to-surface (SSM) missile with significant stand-off range that can neutralize growing threats. Japan will have no difficulty absorbing these articles into its armed forces,” it added.

The principal contractor in the proposed sale will be Raytheon and there are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with it.

Japan's Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced in October 2023 that it was accelerating efforts to procure selected stand-off weapons, including the Tomahawk cruise missile, amid deteriorating security conditions in the region.