The Asia-Pacific region, which is increasingly placed in the center of international economy-politics, has recently started to come to the fore with increasing military activities, developing military technologies and increases in the defense expenditures of countries. In this context, as the relations between China and the United States of America (USA), where the main rivalry is experienced in the Asia-Pacific region, and China and Japan, which is a more secondary but very important rivalry, are strained, both these countries and smaller countries that are on the side of regional politics increase their armament expenditures. Therefore, it becomes an important issue whether the region enters into an arms race.
When the issue is viewed from the perspective of China, the aforementioned country has started to mass-produce the DF-26, a multi-purpose weapon with a range of 4,000 kilometers. The range of this missile is capable of shooting the island of Guam, where one of the substantial US military bases in the Pacific is located. The missile is China’s first nuclear warhead missile system “capable of precision strikes”. However, the aforementioned missile can also use a conventional gun head. The system is an advanced highway mobile system developed by China for medium-range missiles. Some analysts estimate that the missile’s ability to accurately shot the target can have a margin of error of between 150 and 450 meters.[1] However, the system is still important for China’s strategic offensive weapons and increases the country’s strike capacity.
The USA, on the other hand, is developing new weapons in the Pacific in order to counter Beijing. Indeed, according to as yet unpublished US 2021 military briefing documents, the US-Indo-Pacific Command plans to deploy its new long-range weapons to Japan, Taiwan, and other Pacific countries. Among these weapons is the Long Range Hypersonic weapon, called as a missile capable of sending a warhead capable of hitting targets more than five times the speed of sound at a distance of more than 2,775 kilometers.[2] However, a definite decision has not yet been made on which countries these weapons will be deployed to. Because most of the US allies in the region are hesitant about the deployment of these weapons in their own territory. The country most likely to deploy weapons is Japan, the main ally of the United States in the region and currently home to more than 54,000 American troops, according to analysts’ estimates. Japan’s Okinawa Island could be a suitable place to deploy missiles.
Besides these two countries, other countries in the region both have security concerns about China and want to reduce their dependence on the USA. Therefore, due to the increasing tension between the USA and China, the American allies in the region to deploy these missiles on their borders may cause a serious reaction in Beijing. For this reason, other countries amidst of the competition choose to increase their military capacities by purchasing and developing new missiles. For instance, Japan, which spends billions of dollars on long-range, air-launched weapons, aims to increase the range of the truck-mounted anti-ship missile “Type 12”, which has a range of 200 kilometers, to 900 kilometers and after to 1500 kilometers. The Type 12 is not just for naval ships; it is also a weapon that can attack ground targets. The missiles will be able to be updated with new data on their targets via satellite communication during their flight, thus increasing the accuracy of the target during attacks.[3]
In addition, Japan will increase to four the total number of positions with missile units on the Nansei Islands, including Okinawa Island. The Nansei Islands are spread over an area of approximately 1200 kilometers and are located in the first island chain that extends to the Philippines. Within the framework of the program, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of fiscal 2021, missile units will be deployed to four islands. These are, the island of Amami-Oshima in Kagoshima Prefecture is Okinawa Island, Miyakojima Island, and Ishigakijima Island.[4]
South Korea, another key US ally in the Asia-Pacific region, has an indigenous ballistic missile program developed under a recent agreement with the US to de-territorialize bilateral borders. The missile system, called Hyunmoo-4, has a range of 800 kilometers; it has the capacity to carry 2 tons of gun head.[5] The system provides precision strike capability to South Korea. This means an important strategic offensive weapon for the Seoul administration. Inasmuch, the country has long experienced the pressure of missile threats from North Korea.
In March 2021, Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton stated that his country would work closely with the United States on a new domestic guided missile project, and the project would meet both Australia’s requirements and the expectations of its most important military allies.[6] At this point, the Australian Government plans to spend $270 billion on defense projects over the next decade. This new program attempted by Australia is not an attack; is for defense. Here, the most important security concern perceived by Australia is that the country remains very weak in the face of rising powers such as China.
In Taiwan, there are no officially announced missile programs yet. However, in December 2020, the US State Department approved the Taipei administration’s request to purchase dozens of American short-range ballistic missiles. In the statements made by the authorities, it was stated that Taiwan produces mass weapons and develops cruise missiles such as Yun Feng that can reach as far as Beijing. Yun Feng is known as a surface-to-surface, supersonic cruise missile. It is designed to achieve military objectives in Northern and Central China and it is one of Taiwan’s few strategic assets. The range is of a standard Yun Feng missile is 1,200 kilometers. However, the upraged version of it can reach a range of 2,000 kilometers.[7] Considering that Taiwan Island is about 200 kilometers from the southern coast of China, it is easily understood how important the aforementioned weapons are for Taipei.
As a result, missile development trends are increasing in Asia-Pacific, which is a region where tensions rise rapidly on the world agenda and there is competition between the USA and China, both at the regional and global level. Presumably, Asia-Pacific will become a region full of faster flying, harder to strike and more advanced conventional missiles in the coming years. Therefore, as some countries acquire them, a security concern of other countries will increase and a security dilemma will occur. In this sense, it can be said that the region witnessed a similar process to the First World War.
[1] “DF-26”, CSIS Missile Defense Project, https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/dong-feng-26-df-26/, (Date of Accession:12.08.2021).
[2] Mith, John, “Analysis: Caught between China and the U.S., Asian Countries Stockpile Powerful New Missiles”, Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/caught-between-china-us-asian-countries-stockpile-powerful-new-missiles-2021-07-20/, (Date of Accession: 12.08.2021)
[3] Inaba Yoshihiro, “Japan to Greatly Extend Range of Type 12 Anti-Ship Missiles, Modify It For F-15J”, Naval News, https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/01/japan-to-greatly-extend-range-of-type-12-anti-ship-missiles-modify-it-for-f-15j/, (Date of Accession: 12.08.2021).
[4] “Missile Units to be Deployed on Ishigakijima Island”, Straits Times, https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/missile-units-to-be-deployed-on-ishigakijima-island, (Date of Accession: 11.08.2021).
[5] Wright Timothy, “South Korea TestsHyunmoo-4 Ballistic Missile”, IISS, https://www.iiss.org/blogs/analysis/2020/06/mdi-south-korea-tests-hyunmoo-4-ballistic-missile, (Date of Accession:11.08.2021)
[6] “Australia to Produce Its Own Guided Missiles As Part of Billion-Dollar Defence Manufacturing Plan”, ABC News, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-31/government-weapons-facility-guided-missiles-made-in-australia/100039990, (Date of Accession: 12.08.2021).
[7] Yun Feng”, CSIS Missile Defense Project, https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/yun-feng/, (Date of Accession: 12.08.2021).
