On Mar. 5, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) moved approximately 150 vehicles, including launchers for surface-to-ship and surface-to-air guided missiles, to its new base on Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture, news media in Japan reported.
This move was met with protests by around 30 local citizens who are against the base. Riot police belonging to the Okinawa prefectural police were deployed to guard the area. Previously, the JGSDF had transported vehicles by civilian cargo ships to the port of Ishigaki, where they had been kept since late last month.
The new Ishigaki base is set to open on March 16th and will house approximately 570 troops, including a missile unit. It will be the last facility to be established as part of the Self-Defense Forces’ initiative to strengthen deployments in southwestern Japan. Similar camps have been established on other islands in the Ryukyu Islands, including Yonaguni Island in 2016, Miyako Island and Kagoshima Prefecture’s Amami Oshima Island in 2019.
The camp in Ishigaki will host indigenous Type 12 surface-to-ship missiles and Type 03 medium-range surface-to-air missiles. Video footage shows a Type 03 missile launcher being driven out of the port holding area.
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Hunini, CC BY-SA 4.0, ウィキメディア・コモンズ経由で
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