Japan’s Cabinet OKs export of fighter jets
Japan’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved a plan to sell future nextgeneration fighter planes that it is developing with the United Kingdom and Italy to other countries, in the latest example of the East Asian country’s shift from its postwar pacifist principles.
The decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the fighter jet project and part of a move to build up Tokyo’s 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 coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to countries other than the partners.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the changes were necessary, given Japan’s security environment, but stressed that the nation’s pacifist principles remained 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 would follow a strict approval process for jet sales.
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 neighboring China.
Tokyo is working with Rome and London to develop the jets to replace its aging fleet of Americandesigned F-2 fighters and the Eurofighter Typhoons used by the British and Italian militaries.
Japan, which had been 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, called the Global Combat Air Program, or GCAP, is based in the UK.
Japan hopes the new plane will offer the advanced capabilities it needs amid growing tensions in the region, giving it a technological edge against regional rivals China and Russia.
Because of its wartime past as aggressor and the devastation that followed its defeat in World War 2, 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 joint project without explaining it to the public or seeking approval for the major policy change.
To address such concerns, the government is restricting exports of codeveloped lethal weapons to the jet for now and has promised that no sales will be made for use in active wars.
The government also assured that the revised guideline for the time being only applies to the jet and that it would require Cabinet approval to do so. Potential purchasers will be also limited to the 15 countries that Japan has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals with.
Recent polls suggest that public opinion is divided on the plan.
In 2014, Japan began to export some nonlethal military supplies, and last December it approved a change allowing sales of 80 lethal weapons and components that it manufactures under licenses from other countries back to the licensors. This change cleared the way for Japan to sell US-designed Patriot missiles to Washington, helping replace munitions that the US is sending to Ukraine.
In its decision, the Cabinet said the arms export ban on finished products would hinder efforts to develop the new jet and limit Japan to a supporting role in the project. Italy and the UK are eager to make sales of the jet in order 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 is planning an April state visit to Washington, where he is expected to stress Japan’s readiness to take on a greater role in military and defense industry partnerships.