Russia criticizes Japan-U.S.-Australia military drills featuring Typhon missile system

Russia on Tuesday slammed large-scale joint U.S.-Japan-Australia military exercises scheduled for later this month, delivering a formal protest to the Japanese Embassy in Moscow about the deployment of U.S. Typhon missile launchers for the drills.

The Orient Shield exercises will run ​from Sept. 8-24 across Japan — including in Hokkaido — and will see the deployment of the powerful Typhon midrange missile system for the first time, according to the Defense Ministry in Tokyo. The advanced weapon can fire Tomahawk cruise missiles as far as 1,600 kilometers — effectively putting parts of Russia and China within striking distance. 

“The Japanese Embassy was clearly informed that the deployment of this type of weapon on Japanese territory, including under the pretext of military exercises, is absolutely unacceptable, as it poses a threat to Russia’s security,” Russia’s RIA news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.