Japan’s joint fighter jet project with the UK and Italy will take center stage at a defense show near Tokyo this week, as the country bolsters its defense ties with NATO members and mulls loosening controls on defense exports.
(Bloomberg) — Japan’s joint fighter jet project with the UK and Italy will take center stage at a defense show near Tokyo this week, as the country bolsters its defense ties with NATO members and mulls loosening controls on defense exports.
The Global Combat Air Programme, a next-generation stealth fighter announced in December, is the country’s first major military development plan with partners other than the US since World War II. The defense ministers from the three countries will meet in Tokyo on Thursday for discussions on the plane, Japan’s Defense Ministry said.
Japan has been one of the biggest buyers of US aircraft for years and the fighter jet signals Tokyo is ready to increase outlays on its domestic arms makers as it pledges to increase defense spending by 60% in the next five years.
“We will gain increased exposure to global markets,” Akira Sugimoto, who heads the project for Japan’s biggest defense contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, said in an interview. MHI, a descendant of the maker of the World War II Zero fighter, will be working with BAe Systems Plc and Leonardo SpA as main contractors, while a host of other firms will also be involved.
“We think we can develop through exchanges with foreign companies that have a wealth of that type of experience,” Sugimoto said. He added MHI cannot comment on the potential for exports of the new plane, scheduled to be ready in 2035, given current regulations.
Japan’s decades-old ban on foreign transfers of defense equipment, which made it hard for firms in the industry to turn a profit or collaborate with allies, was relaxed in 2014 under former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Yet restrictions remain tight, and the government is considering further opening up, potentially helping to sustain Japan’s defense manufacturers.
“If you can’t export, you can’t benefit from advantages of scale,” said Nobukatsu Kanehara, a former deputy head of the National Security Secretariat, and now a professor of law at Doshisha University. “That’s why Japan’s defense industry is so weak.”
Russia’s war in Ukraine has set off a global arms race and created opportunities for the likes of South Korea, which was on track to more than double its defense exports in 2022 as buyers seek to replace Soviet-era weaponry with more advanced technology.
Washington seems to be giving the green light to allies to sell to states in places like eastern Europe as US defense contractors race to fill orders for weapons that will go to Kyiv and Taipei, which is staring down threats from China.
Japan, which adopted a pacifist constitution under US occupation after the war, had long considered it taboo to be an arms exporter. That thinking is beginning to change as neighboring North Korea’s missile prowess grows and tensions simmer between the US, Japan’s only formal military ally, and China.
The Post-Cold War Era Is Gone. A New Arms Race Has Arrived
Transfers of defense equipment and technology were described as “a key policy instrument to ensure peace and stability, especially in the Indo-Pacific,” in the National Security Strategy released in December. The document lays out plans for revisions to smooth the way for such efforts, which could potentially include cases like the GCAP fighter.
Japan is the only member of the Group of Seven advanced democracies that hasn’t provided lethal military support for Ukraine, even as Kishida considers inviting President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to the group’s summit in Hiroshima in May.
“I see this as an issue where we need to reach a conclusion,” Kishida said in parliament earlier this month when pressed on the issue.
The new fighter jet has been touted as a boost for the broader defense industry across all three partner countries. That could be key in Japan, where some small and medium-sized enterprises have been forced out of the business in recent years by slender profits and unpredictable demand, undermining the supply chain.
“We are extremely worried,” said Sugimoto, adding his company had been affected by the disappearance of such suppliers. “If one part among thousands or tens of thousands isn’t available, the whole operation stops.”
While talks among the three contractors are still in the initial phase, the GCAP fighter will be one of the main attractions at the DSEI defense show that started in Chiba on Wednesday. Organizers say they expect a 25% increase in visitor numbers compared with the previous iteration in 2019.
“A fighter plane is a very wide-ranging project,” Sugimoto said. “Through this program, Japan’s supply chain as a whole will gain experience, knowledge and business opportunities. I have great expectations that Japan’s defense industry as a whole will grow.”
–With assistance from Takashi Hirokawa.
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