Japan Fires Type 88 Missiles Overseas for First Time

Japan's Self-Defense Forces fired two Type 88 surface-to-ship missiles for the first time outside Japanese territory on Wednesday, striking and sinking a decommissioned Philippine Navy corvette during a joint maritime exercise off the northern Philippine province of Ilocos Norte.

The live-fire drill, conducted from a coastal position near Paoay Sand Dunes facing the South China Sea, was part of the annual Balikatan exercises, known as "shoulder-to-shoulder" in Tagalog. The missiles hit the target ship, the BRP Quezon, approximately 75 kilometers offshore within six minutes, officials from the Philippine Department of National Defense said. Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and his Japanese counterpart, Shinjirō Koizumi, observed the launch on site, while President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. watched via live video feed from military headquarters in Manila.

The exercise involved forces from the Philippines, the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada, France and New Zealand, demonstrating coordinated maritime strike operations. Philippine Navy frigates, FA-50 and Super Tucano aircraft, a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon patrol plane and an MQ-9 drone supported the drill, though...