Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor system at the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo, Japan. Source Getty Images
The move will help shore up US stockpiles that have been depleted by the ongoing Ukraine conflict.
The arms sale to the United States, confirmed Friday in Tokyo, marks Japan’s first export of lethal weapons since World War II. Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries produces Patriot missiles under license from US defense contractors Lockheed Martin and RTX.
Although the Japanese-made interceptors will not reach Kiev directly, they could allow the US to send more US-made Patriot missiles to Ukraine.
“In taking this action, we hope to contribute to preserving a free and open international order based on the rule of law and achieving peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region “, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters after the Japanese Cabinet agreed to lift the export ban. The Foreign Ministry said the missile deal would further strengthen the Japan-US alliance.
Although Mr. Kishida emphasized that “there are no changes to our principles as a pacifist nation,” U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel acknowledged that Tokyo is moving forward. unprecedented defense modernization”.
The export decision was made on the same day the Japanese Cabinet approved a 16% increase in defense spending, to a record high. The fiscal 2024 military budget of 7.95 trillion yen ($55.8 billion) will also need to be approved by Japan’s parliament.
Mr. Kishida announced a five-year military buildup plan in December 2022, which could make Japan the third largest defense spender in the world, behind only the US and China. Such expenditures were once considered unthinkable under Japan’s US-drafted constitution, under which Tokyo not only renounces the right to wage war but also to possess weapons in excess of what is necessary to Minimize self-defense.
Lifting Japan’s export ban could pave the way for F-15 fighter jets and other weapons produced by Japanese companies under US license to be sold to Washington, Britain and other countries. other Western allies.