Japan’s Type 12 Surface-to-Ship Missile: Rising Power in Ground Self-Defense Force-Part 1

The maximum range is 124 miles, depending on the flight method
Added high-angle firing function for cliff neutralization
Have a total of 104 surface-to-ship launch vehicles (6 shots)
1243 miles range surface-to-ship missiles are also developed

Compared to the previous Type 88, the Type 12 has been upgraded with cost savings, increased range, GPS installation, and improved evasive maneuvers through Thrust Vector Control (TVC) installation. The seeker is a Ka-band AESA radar, made with the same hardware as the seeker of the AAM-4B (Japan’s first medium-range air-to-air missile).

Like the Type 88 ground-to-ship missile, it can be launched from a safe inland location about 62 miles away from the coast. However, the Type 12 has an additional feature that allows it to be launched even with a cliff in front of the launcher. It is designed to fly at ultra-low altitudes for terrain recognition to improve survivability significantly.

Thanks to these features, among all the guided missile systems developed by Japan, its guidance method is most similar to that of a cruise missile. For example, it can fly from inland, following the terrain to the coast, and then activate its radar seeker over the sea to attack enemy ships.

In 2015, a Link 16 datalink was installed to include coordination with the U.S. military. It allowed it to receive real-time location information of enemy ships from the Air Self-Defense Force and the Maritime Self-Defense Force and launch missile attacks immediately without its detection information.

To Read Part 2…
To Read Part 3…