“It is true that we dispatched personnel to coordinate various matters with India,” GSDF Chief of Staff General Arai Masayoshi told reporters on October 27, confirming Tokyo had sent staff to New Delhi to explore live-fire training possibilities.
GSDF confirmation and the October visits
General Arai’s statement followed a public broadcaster report on October 21 that Defense Ministry officials visited India in mid-October and spent about one week inspecting test facilities and firing ranges. Arai said the talks are exploratory: no missile system has been selected and no decision has been made to conduct live-fire training in India. The dispatch was described as a coordination effort to examine “various matters with India,” rather than the start of a concrete, scheduled exercise.
Type 25 surface-to-ship guided missile and training demands
Japan’s expanding stand-off weapons inventory frames the problem prompting the India discussions. The GSDF deployed the Type 25 surface-to-ship guided missile to Camp Kengun in Kumamoto Prefecture in March 2026; its range is believed to be around 1,000 kilometers, compared with around 200 kilometers for the earlier Type 12. During the large-scale Japan–U.S. joint exercise Keen Sword 27 (running from October 19 to 29), the GSDF demonstrated the Type 25 on October 25 at a training area spanning Nagasaki and Saga prefectures, showing procedures for deploying a mobile launcher and preparing it for firing, though no missile was launched.
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See what we buildWhy overseas firing ranges are under consideration
Arai framed the core operational challenge bluntly: “When operating relatively long-range missiles, such as surface-to-ship missiles, how to conduct training that makes use of their range is a major challenge.” Live-fire drills that exploit ranges measured in the hundreds or thousands of kilometers raise issues of safety, airspace management, maritime area control, and coordination with civilian and military authorities. The GSDF is simultaneously examining domestic solutions and overseas facilities to meet those requirements.
India as a potential bilateral partner
The discussions with India are presented as bilateral and exploratory, not as a proposed Quad exercise. Arai said India is “an important partner in the Indo-Pacific region,” and Tokyo recognizes “the importance of promoting various forms of defense cooperation and exchanges amid an increasingly severe and complex security environment.” Access to Indian test ranges would broaden Japan’s overseas training options and add a practical dimension to bilateral defense cooperation, should both sides agree to proceed.
Small attack drones: technical and operational constraints
Arai confirmed that training involving small attack drones was among the possibilities being explored alongside missile firing. He listed a series of concrete constraints: radio frequencies, training content, suitable locations, operational conditions, and safety management. Training arrangements must reflect when, where, and how the GSDF expects to employ such drones. The service has not decided whether overseas training would precede domestic exercises or run alongside them, and any live-fire activity in Japan would require coordination with local governments and other authorities.
Precedents and regional ties: Philippines, the U.S., and Australia
Tokyo has precedent for overseas surface-to-ship firing exercises. The GSDF has conducted such training in the United States and Australia. In April–May 2026, during the Philippine–U.S. Balikatan exercise, the GSDF conducted surface-to-ship firing in the Philippines for the first time, firing its Type 88 missile. Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro later told the Asahi Shimbun that the Type 88 was among the leading candidates for acquisition by Manila. Those prior arrangements show both an operational template and the diplomatic work that foreign live-fire training requires.
As Japan moves to field weapons with far greater reach, the practical question of where and how to train becomes as much a diplomatic exercise as a military one. For now, the India discussions remain exploratory: no location, system, or timing has been announced, and even the Type 25 — the new long-range system demonstrated during Keen Sword 27 — has not been confirmed for any potential India firing. The next steps will hinge on resolving the safety, airspace, maritime, frequency, and coordination issues Arai identified, and on whether New Delhi welcomes a bilateral live-fire arrangement.
