On November 17, 2023, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) of the US Department of Defense sent a notification to the US Congress about the planned possible sale to Japan through the US program of intergovernmental foreign military sales Foreign Military Sales (FMS) 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles in Block IV and V versions. This sale is approved by the U.S. Department of State. The total cost of the proposed delivery is estimated at $2.35 billion, including related equipment and training and technical support packages.
The official rendering image of the promising Japanese destroyer ASEV (Aegis System-Equipped Vessel). Two such ships are planned to be built for the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces by fiscal years 2027-2028 instead of the previously planned ground-based missile defense systems with the AEGIS weapon system. The destroyers should be equipped with the AEGIS system with the new AN/SPY-7B radar system and Standard SM-3 and SM-6 missiles, as well as Tomahawk cruise missiles and advanced Japanese type (c) Japanese Ministry of Defense
According to the notification, the delivery will include 200 Tomahawk Block IV cruise missiles (RGM-109E) and 200 Tomahawk Block V cruise missiles (RGM-109E), as well as 14 sets of Tactical Tomahawk Weapon Control Systems (TTWCS) shipboard fire control system. The general contractor will be RTX Corporation (Raytheon).
Judging by the figure of 14 sets of TTWCS system, Japan plans to equip 14 of its surface ships with Tomahawk missiles. Earlier it was reported that, first of all, to carry Tomahawk missiles, it is planned to modify all eight large Japanese destroyers equipped with an integrated AEGIS weapon system by fiscal year 2027 - four types of Kong, two types of Atago and two types of Maya. In addition, it is planned to build two new large destroyers ASEV (Aegis System-Equipped Vessel) with the AEGIS weapon system, which will enter service in 2027 and 2028 as an alternative to the canceled program for the construction of two AEGIS ground-based missile defense systems.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced his intention to purchase 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles for the Japanese navy at a meeting of the budget committee of the lower house of the Japanese parliament on February 27, 2023. In early October, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, following talks in Washington with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, said that Japan would begin receiving Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States in the Japanese fiscal year 2025 (starting April 1, 2025), that is, a year earlier than originally planned, "in light of the increasingly difficult situation with security in Asia."
Initially, Japan planned to purchase 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles completely in the modern version of Block V, but in the end, to speed up purchases, they decided to purchase the first 200 Tomahawk Block IV missiles, which will arrive in the 2025 final year, and 200 new Tomahawk Block V missiles will be purchased in the 2026-2027 fiscal years. In the defense budget of Japan for fiscal year 2023, 211.3 billion yen ($1.6 billion) was allocated for the purchase of Tomahawk missiles.
