Japan approves plan to sell fighter jets to other nations after quitting postwar pacifist policies
The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project
In the latest departure from its postwar pacifist principles, Japan’s Cabinet Tuesday approved a plan to sell the next-generation fighter jets it’s developing with Britain and Italy to other countries.
The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project.
It is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security.
The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow co-produced lethal weapons to be sold to countries other than the partners.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the changes are necessary given Japan’s security environment, but stressed that Japan’s pacifist principles remain unchanged.
“In order to achieve a fighter aircraft that meets the necessary performance and to avoid jeopardizing the defense of Japan, it is necessary to transfer finished products from Japan to countries other than partner countries,” Hayashi told reporters, adding that Tokyo will follow a strict approval process for jet sales.
“We have demonstrated that we will continue to adhere to our basic philosophy as a peaceful nation,” he said.
Japan has long restricted arms exports under the country’s pacifist constitution but has rapidly taken steps to deregulate amid rising regional and global tensions, especially from nearby China.
The decision on jets will allow Japan to export lethal weapons it coproduces to other countries for the first time.
Japan, previously working on a homegrown design to be called the F-X, agreed in December 2022 to merge its effort with a British-Italian program called the Tempest.
The joint project, the Global Climate Air Program or GCAP, is based in the U.K. and is scheduled for deployment in 2035.
Japan hopes the new plane will offer advanced capabilities Japan needs amid growing tensions in the region, giving it a technological edge against regional rivals China and Russia.
Because of its wartime past as an aggressor and the devastation that followed its defeat in World War II, Japan adopted a constitution that limits its military to self-defense.
The country long maintained a strict policy to limit transfers of military equipment and technology and ban all exports of lethal weapons.
Opponents have criticized Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government for committing to the fighter jet project without explaining to the public or seeking approval for the significant policy change.
To address such concerns, the government is limiting exports of codeveloped lethal weapons to the jet for now and has promised that no sales will be made for active wars.
The government also assured that the revised guideline only applies to the jet for the time being and that it would require Cabinet approval to do so.
Potential purchasers will also be limited to the 15 countries where Japan has signed defense partnerships and equipment transfer deals.
Recent polls suggest that public opinion is divided on the plan.
In 2014, Japan began exporting some nonlethal military supplies.
In the latest move last December, it approved a change that would allow the sale of 80 lethal weapons and components that it manufactures under licenses from other countries back to the licensors.
The change cleared the way for Japan to sell U.S.-designed Patriot missiles to the United States, helping replace munitions that Washington was sending to Ukraine.
In its decision, the Cabinet said that the arms export ban on finished products would hinder efforts to develop the new jet and limit Japan’s support for the project. Italy and the U.K. are eager to sell the jet to defray development and manufacturing costs.
Kishida sought Cabinet approval before signing the GCAP agreement in February, but it was delayed by resistance from his junior coalition partner, the Buddhist-backed Komeito party.
The change also comes as Kishida plans an April state visit to Washington, where he is expected to stress Japan’s readiness to play a more significant role in military and defense industry partnerships.
Exports would also help boost Japan’s defense industry, which historically has served only the country’s Self Defense Force. Kishida seeks to strengthen the military, but the industry has struggled to attract customers despite its efforts over the past decade.
Source: AP
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