The Japanese Type 81 air defense missile is a short-range air defense missile system installed by the Japan Ground Self Defense Force and the Air Self Defense Force in 1982. It was jointly developed by Toshiba, Seiko, and Nissan, and is mainly used to fill the air defense firepower gap at an altitude of 4000 meters, undertaking field air defense and key area air defense tasks. Its development work can be traced back to the project launched in 1960 under the name of Mobile Short Range Air Defense Missile (ML-SAM). It was officially launched in 1966 and was selected as the development target in 1980 after defeating Roland and the Light Sword system in a competitive bidding. It was finalized in 1982 and initially had combat capabilities. In 1983, it began mass production and was first equipped with the Hokkaido 7th Division. From 1984, it was gradually equipped with the Honshu Army and the Air Self Defense Force base air defense forces