The US military will deploy an anti-ship missile system to Japan’s westernmost island of Yonaguni, which lies just 68 miles east of Taiwan, an unprecedented move that will ratchet up tensions with China.
US Marines will deploy with the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, or NMESIS, as part of Keen Sword, the largest joint US-Japanese biennial military exercise.
The NMESIS has a range of about 115 miles, putting it within striking range of vessels patrolling the eastern coast of Taiwan. According to The South China Morning Post, China has stepped up coast guard and naval activity in the area in response to maritime boundary talks announced in May between Japan and the Philippines.
Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert, told China’s Global Times that the deployment increases the risk of miscalculation between the US and China and that Beijing may respond by conducting its own military drills in the area.
The Okinawa Defense Bureau first disclosed the deployment on October 1, and it will also include a Marine Air Defense Integrated System, or Maidas, a ground-based air defense system also used by the Marine Corps’ littoral force.
The first Marine Littoral Regiment was established in 2022 as part of the Marine Corps’ Force Design strategy, which is explicitly focused on preparing for a potential conflict with China. The idea was to create mobile Marine units equipped with anti-ship missiles and other weapons that can rapidly deploy along what is known as the First Island Chain, a string of archipelagos stretching from Japan’s southern islands through Taiwan and the Philippines and into the southern South China Sea.
