Japan is planning to relax its restrictions on weapon exports so that the United States may get a number of Patriot air defense missiles made in the nation. This is expected to enable the US to increase its vital supply to Ukraine amid the conflict with Russia.
According to Financial Times, two sources familiar with the matter also said that Tokyo is contemplating selling 155mm artillery rounds to the United Kingdom, which it manufactures under license from BAE Systems. This proposal is seen as a way for Tokyo to somehow help Ukraine.
Easing of Restrictions
A modification of Japan's stringent regulations on arms deals, which the government is expected to announce on Friday, December 22, would allow the export of the weapons, as the Financial Times reports. After planning to spend more on the military last year, Japan changed its defense policy to be more aggressive. This easing of restrictions is part of that strategy.
For the first time in almost a decade, Japan will no longer be able to sell military hardware to Ukraine directly due to revised weapons regulations. Rather, it will allow machinery to be sent to the nation that issued the license for its production. Tokyo is now limited to exporting licensed components rather than full systems due to existing regulations.
American defense firms Lockheed Martin and RTX (formerly Raytheon Technologies) licensed the Patriot missiles to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan for many months, according to persons familiar with the talks. Washington has been requesting that Japan authorize the sale of these missiles. The shipments would allow the US to redirect supplies intended for the Indo-Pacific region to Ukraine.
Washington has provided Kyiv with a number of modern military systems, the most advanced of which is this Patriot air defense system.
Despite the repeated failure of the US Congress to approve a $60 billion assistance package for Ukraine, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government has devised these proposals. Republicans in Congress rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's efforts to get more cash during his visit to Washington this month.
The Defense Industry
Following the adoption of its pacifist constitution in the aftermath of World War II, Japan repealed its long-standing prohibition on weapons exports in 2014. Unfortunately, the country's continued limitations and extended absence from international markets have made it very difficult for them to create a substantial weapons sector.
Business leaders had hoped that Japan's new fighter jet joint development program with the UK and Italy would allow the Japanese government to relax export restrictions and open up new markets for Japan's defense industry.
However, the governing Liberal Democratic party's coalition partner, Komeito, has been opposed to relaxation beyond certification for licensed equipment. Next year, the parties want to keep talking about how to rewrite the regulations that govern the trilateral fighter aircraft program more broadly.
