Editing M-V (section)

== Potential as an intercontinental ballistic missile ==
Solid fuel rockets are the design of choice for military applications as they can remain in storage for long periods, and then reliably launch at short notice.

Lawmakers made national security arguments for keeping Japan's solid-fuel rocket technology alive after ISAS was merged into [[JAXA]], which also has the [[H-IIA]] liquid-fuelled rocket, in 2003. The ISAS director of external affairs, Yasunori Matogawa, said, "It seems the hard-line national security proponents in parliament are increasing their influence, and they aren't getting much criticism... I think we’re moving into a very dangerous period. When you consider the current environment and the [[North Korea and weapons of mass destruction|threat from North Korea]], it's scary".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.freep.com/news/nw/djapan11_20030711.htm|title=Japan ponders nuclear weapons|author=Karl Schoenberger|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=July 11, 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040625104149/http://www.freep.com/news/nw/djapan11_20030711.htm|archive-date=June 25, 2004}}</ref>

Toshiyuki Shikata, a [[Tokyo Metropolitan Government]] adviser and former lieutenant general, claimed that part of the rationale for the fifth M-V [[Hayabusa]] mission was that the reentry and landing of its return capsule demonstrated "that Japan's ballistic missile capability is credible".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203658804576638392537430156|title=In Japan, Provocative Case for Staying Nuclear|author=Chester Dawson|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=28 October 2011|access-date=13 November 2011}}</ref>

At a technical level the M-V design could be weaponised quickly (as an [[Intercontinental ballistic missile]], since only payload and guidance have to be changed) although this would be politically unlikely.<ref>{{cite report|url=http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB367.pdf#page=88|title=Paths Diverging? The Next Decade in the US-Japan Security Alliance|page=82|author=William E. Rapp|publisher=Strategic Studies Institute, [[U.S. Army War College]]|date=January 2004|access-date=29 October 2012|quote=119. Japan has the weapons grade plutonium, technology for weaponization, and delivery means in the M-V-5 rocket, indigenous, solid fueled, 1800 kg payload capacity, to go nuclear very rapidly should it choose. This dramatic step, however, would require a complete loss of faith in the American nuclear umbrella|archive-date=25 June 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625024741/http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB367.pdf#page=88|url-status=dead}}</ref> The M-V is comparable in performance to the [[LGM-118 Peacekeeper]] ICBM.