The Japanese government is expected to create long-range cruise missiles on the territory of the country to strike land targets because of unstable regional situation, especially on the Korean peninsula, Sankei reported.

According to the source, the first prototype will be constructed by 2022. The Japanese government plans to invest in the purchase of cruise missiles with a range of up to 900 km from the USA and 500 km from Norway.

Now Tokyo has no missile to strike land targets in the territory of another state.  Japanese constitution prohibits the use of offensive weapons by Japanese self-defense forces. However, the Japanese government has repeatedly stated that the preemptive strike against an enemy base that directly poses a threat to Japan might be seen as self-defense.

As reported earlier, the Japanese government approved 2018 draft budget (from April 1, 2018), implying increase in defence expenditures by 1.5% to 5.19 trillion yen ($ 45.7 billion).