Japan did away with another postwar taboo on Wednesday, firing off Type 88 surface-to-ship missiles for the first time from the Philippines during joint military drills that included the U.S. and others.??
The Self-Defense Forces (SDF) have taken on a combat role for the first time in this year’s Balikatan military exercises, with about 1,400 personnel, multiple warships and aircraft and antiship missile systems deployed to the Philippines.?
Wednesday’s launches hit a mock enemy ship — the decommissioned Philippine Navy’s Quezon corvette — about 75 kilometers off the shores of Paoay, Ilocos Norte, in the country’s northwest.
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