Japan did away with another postwar taboo on Wednesday, firing off Type 88 surface-to-ship missiles for the first time from the Philippines during joint military drills that included the U.S. and others.
The Self-Defense Forces (SDF) have taken on a combat role for the first time in this year’s Balikatan military exercises, with about 1,400 personnel, multiple warships and aircraft and anti-ship missile systems deployed to the Philippines.
Wednesday’s launches hit a mock enemy ship — the decommissioned Philippine Navy’s Quezon corvette — about 75 kilometers off the shores of Paoay, Ilocos Norte, in the country’s northwest.
