Chinese Navy in Mind? Japan to Equip its Mitsubishi F-2 Fighters with Newly Developed ASM-3 Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles

Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has completed the development and testing of its ASM-3 supersonic anti-ship missile, a platform set to enter mass production from 2019. Under development since 2003, the ASM-3 is the first supersonic air to ship missile developed in the country's history and is designed to launch from Japan's indigenous F-2 light fighters. The development comes amid growing efforts by Japan to develop offensive platforms, at a time when the country is also developing sophisticated air to ground missiles for deployment from its F-15J heavy fighters. These weapons are designed under the pretext of allowing the country to conduct a preemptive strike on North Korean targets - though they have raised concern in China with which the country also has substantial tensions.

While the F-2 is limited in its speed and range the ASM-3 missiles can strike targets 200km away and is estimated to strike at speeds of Mach 3. Japan has invested approximately 39 billion yen in research and development of new engines for the missiles - set to be the first of many new platforms to be developed as the country remilitarises. The missiles carry a 900kg payload, and could potentially pose a threat to the PLA Navy should its surface vessels attempt to operate near Japanese waters. The F-2 remains a potent delivery platform even without coordination with more capable ship based radar systems due to its highly capable J/APG-2 active electronically scanned array radar - though its light weight and resulting short range remain a constraining factor. With Japan unable to deploy the F-2 near the disputed Diaoyu/ Senkaku islands, equipping the platform with anti ship missiles is largely a defensive measure. In future platforms such as the F-35B more suitable for power projection and deployment near disputed islands, either from short airstrips or from the country's two Izumo Class carriers, could well be equipped with the ASM-3 or anti ship missiles based on the same technologies and modified to be deployed by the stealth platform. This could potentially pose a threat to the Chinese Navy far from the Japanese mainland.