Jeffrey W. Hornung, a political scientist at RAND, argued in a commentary on defenseone.com that Japan needs to boost its deterrence capabilities by acquiring a long-range strike capability.
By Hunini (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
According to Hornung, governments since the Ichiro Hatoyama administration had agreed in theory that the constitution allows Japan to strike enemy missile sites. “It may be time to move beyond the theoretical,” Hornung wrote.