The Japanese Defense Ministry plans to have the Maritime Self-Defense Force¡¯s Aegis destroyer Chokai test-fire a U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missile in the United States by next summer, sources have said.

The test is planned to be conducted under the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program and is expected to cost at least ?2 billion, Japanese and U.S. government sources said Saturday.

If successful, the SDF would gain the ability to directly strike the territory of other countries using cruise missiles. Such missiles were used in the Gulf War and many other armed conflicts.

On Friday, Japan will mark 10 years since the enactment of its national security legislation that allows the country to exercise its right to collective self-defense if certain conditions are met, including a situation in which Japan¡¯s survival is threatened due to an attack on the United States.

Under such a scenario, Japan could be asked by the United States to launch Tomahawk missiles, making its exclusively defense-oriented policy a mere facade.

The Chokai is slated to complete its modifications to add a Tomahawk launch function by next March.

The test is expected to verify whether the precision guidance system for ground attack targets will work.

¡°We will check whether the Chokai can demonstrate its intended ability,¡± said one Defense Ministry official, who declined to provide further details, citing the need to take into account the relationship with the United States.

According to the U.S. Navy, Tomahawks have a range of some 1,600 kilometers. If launched from areas near Japan, they could reach China, North Korea and Russia. The United States ¡ª which supports the Japanese test ¡ª used Tomahawks in its attack on Iranian nuclear sites in June.

In exercising its ¡°counterstrike capabilities,¡± ¡°Japan will coordinate closely with the United States, but the SDF and the U.S. military will act under their respective independent chains of command,¡± the Japanese defense official said.

The MSDF will equip all eight Aegis destroyers with Tomahawks. The ministry has earmarked the budget for the modifications of the Aegis destroyers deployed at the MSDF¡¯s Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture and its Sasebo base in Nagasaki Prefecture.

In its budget request for fiscal 2026, which starts next April, the ministry included the renovation budget for two Aegis destroyers deployed at the MSDF¡¯s Maizuru base in Kyoto Prefecture.