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- Ambassador Rahm Emanuel has urged Japan to increase its participation in the development, production and supply of weapons to strengthen security.
- He expressed the need for greater cooperation in the defense industry between the United States and Japan, saying that the United States alone cannot supply all democracies.
- Japan plans to explore opportunities for co-licensing, co-production and co-development of military technologies with the United States.
The U.S. ambassador to Japan on Tuesday urged Tokyo to take a larger role in weapons development, production and supply “to enhance our collective security” amid conflict in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere.
Ambassador Rahm Emanuel visited a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries F-35 fighter jet factory and highlighted the importance of greater cooperation in the defense industry between the allies. The United States alone can no longer supply all democracies, he said.
The visit followed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s trip to Washington, where he met with President Joe Biden and highlighted Japan’s commitment to doing more as a trusted partner, especially in defense cooperation.
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Countries will now look at what Japan can co-license, co-produce and co-develop, Emanuel told reporters. “It is extremely exciting to bring Japan’s industrial capabilities and engineering intelligence to the field on behalf of the alliance,” he said.
Under the national security strategy adopted by the Kishida government in 2022, Japan is accelerating its military development and increasing its defense budget in the face of threats from China, North Korea and Russia. Japan pledged to acquire what it calls counter-strike capabilities and purchased 400 Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles, a break from its postwar pacifist principles.
Japan also dramatically relaxed its arms export rules. It allowed the sale of lethal weapons to countries where they were licensed and foreign sales of a fighter jet it is developing with Britain and Italy. The changes have allowed Japan to send Japanese-made PAC-3 missiles to the United States to help replace those provided by Washington to Ukraine.
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Many US allies have increased their defense budgets and capabilities following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Hamas’s attack on Israel. To meet its security, defense and deterrence obligations, “we cannot afford for Japan to sit on the sidelines,” the US ambassador said.
Mitsubishi Heavy’s F-35 final assembly and checkout plant near Nagoya produces six Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 aircraft a year and provides maintenance work for those deployed to Japan. The ambassador called the F-35 “the most modern and capable aircraft we have in our defense and collective deterrence industries.”
Areas of possible cooperation will be discussed at a military industry council and reported to the foreign and defense ministers of both countries, Emanuel said.
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