Japan tests long-range Type 12 missile as counterstrike capability against China grows

Japan’s efforts to build a long-range capability to strike Chinese warships reached a milestone last week as flight testing began for the air-launched variant of its upgraded Type 12 anti-ship missile, a weapon with a reported range of about 1,000km (620 miles).
Photographs taken by aviation enthusiasts on July 30 at Gifu airbase in central Japan show a Mitsubishi F-2B fighter carrying two inert examples of the missile beneath its wings, marking the first public confirmation of a flight…