U.S. Army to Shift Advanced Typhon and HIMARS Systems Into Okinawa Storage

The U.S. Army will temporarily store its Typhon midrange missile system and High Mobility Artillery Rocket System at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa beginning in mid October, according to Japan’s Defense Ministry.

The systems will be transferred from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Kanoya Air Base on Kyushu.

U.S. Air Force Globemaster III aircraft will carry the equipment to Kadena, according to an information sheet posted Friday on the Okinawa Defense Bureau’s website.

The Okinawa Defense Bureau operates as an arm of the Ministry of Defense. The document did not provide an exact arrival date for the missile systems or specify how long they would remain at Kadena.

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The Army’s 3rd Multi-Domain Task Force temporarily deployed an unspecified number of the systems to Kanoya during two military exercises.

Those drills were the biennial Valiant Shield exercise in June and July and the annual Orient Shield exercise, which concluded Thursday.

No operational units will move to Kadena as part of the transfer, according to the ministry document. Officials also do not expect the storage arrangement to cause an increase in personnel at the air base.

The document said storing the missile systems at Kadena does not mean they will be permanently deployed in Japan. It offered no additional timeline for their removal or another potential transfer.

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U.S. Army Japan spokeswoman Maj. LeeAnn Sagucio declined to provide further details in an email Monday, citing operational security.

The 18th Wing at Kadena acknowledged telephone and email inquiries Monday but did not immediately respond.

Kadena Air Base is shared by Kadena town, Chatan town and Okinawa city. Kadena town objects to the weapons being stored within its borders despite the absence of an expected personnel increase, a spokesman for its Base Liaison Division said by telephone Monday.

The town planned to submit a formal protest to the Okinawa Defense Bureau on Monday afternoon, the spokesman said. Some Japanese government officials are required to speak to the press on condition of anonymity.

Typhon includes missile launchers, missiles and a battery operations center. The system can fire SM-6 and Tomahawk missiles and is designed to bridge the capability gap between the Army’s precision strike missiles and long range hypersonic missiles.

The Army first fired Typhon in the Western Pacific in July 2025. During the Talisman Sabre exercise, the system struck a target at sea after launching from Bradshaw Training Area in Australia.

The Army used Typhon again during the Balikatan exercise in April and May. In that exercise, the system struck a target nearly 400 miles away on Luzon, the main island of the Philippines, for the first time.

HIMARS also participated in the recently concluded Orient Shield exercise.

The Army system and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s Multiple Launch Rocket System were fired Sept. 22 at Yausubetsu Training Area in eastern Hokkaido, according to U.S. Army Japan.

Image Credit: DoW

A U.S. Army M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System also took part in live fire drills at Yausubetsu Training Area on Sept. 21, 2026.

The Army identified the location as being in Hokkaido, Japan.

The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force has said Orient Shield was not directed at any particular country or region. However, this year’s exercise occurred amid tensions between Japan and Russia involving Etorofu, Kunashiri and Shikotan islands and the Habomai islet group.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova protested the live fire training while speaking to reporters in Vladivostok on Sept. 1.

According to a Reuters report published that day, she said “provocative military activity near our country’s far eastern borders is categorically unacceptable.”

Zakharova also objected to the Typhon deployment on Kyushu in comments posted Sept. 18 on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website.

Despite those objections and Kadena town’s planned protest, the temporary transfer to Okinawa is scheduled to begin in mid October.

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