Kawasaki P-1
DEC 2, 2017
When U.S. President Donald Trump was here last month, he said
Japan should be buying more military hardware from America, and seemed to
believe it would. Trump’s penchant for talking off-the-cuff is well-known, but
Japan’s reluctance to address the matter forthrightly may have more to do with
the fact that the nation now endeavors to be a competitor in the global arms
market.
However, since 2014, when the Cabinet issued a directive effectively amending
the Three Principles of Arms Exports implemented in 1967,
Japan has not been successful in any of its attempts to sell finished military
equipment to other countries. The U.K. decided to buy patrol aircraft from the
U.S. rather than Japan, and what had seemed like a done deal to send submarines
to Australia ended when the government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott collapsed.
At present, the Boei Sobi-cho (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency),
an agency set up in 2015 to sell military equipment abroad, is working on
several sales the media has characterized as Japan’s last chance to join the
international arms merchant club. One is to sell C-2 transport aircraft
manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries to the United Arab Emirates, but
while it was the UAE who requested the planes in the first place, according to
a report in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei), the Three Principles, which
are still in effect, prohibit sales of arms to countries currently involved in
international conflicts, and UAE is part of the Saudi-led coalition attacking
forces in Yemen. One Defense Ministry official told Nikkei that it shouldn’t be
a problem since UAE is not “leading” the fight.
The government is sensitive about such accusations. Even
the name of the new office is a euphemism. Boei Sobi-cho’s English name —
Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency — could describe anything. Even in
Japanese, it literally means “Defense Equipment Agency,” a term that suggests
the manufacture and distribution of parts, which Japan has been doing in one
way or another ever since the Korean and Vietnam wars, when sales of materials
that could be used for military purposes were central to Japan’s rapid postwar
industrial redevelopment.
For five years, meaning even from before the Cabinet
directive, Japan has been negotiating sales of US-2 amphibious aircraft to
India. A researcher for the defense information provider, Jane’s, told Nikkei last June that he thought “the deal will go
through at some point, but we might have grandchildren by the time it happens.”
Everyone seems to agree that the US-2, made by ShinMaywa
Industries, is superior in terms of range and capacity and thus especially
suitable to the needs of India, which has a long coastline and many remote
islands. The sale is also, according to Nikkei, in Japan’s interest since
India’s main defense purpose is to check China’s presence in the region.
The sticking point is price. Japan is asking ¥14.3
billion each for 12 planes, and India wants the “establishment of a joint
production venture” on its soil, but ShinMaywa isn’t interested in transferring
production for the sake of such a small order.
Since the government is desperate for a sale, it may help
pay for it. The idea of subsidizing weapons sales by giving incentives to
purchasing countries was taken up on a Nov. 10 TV Asahi report, which described a plan to provide
Official Development Assistance to countries like Malaysia so that they would
be more likely to buy military equipment from Japan. Such a strategy would not
only require a larger ODA budget, but also assurances to bail out financially
ailing arms manufacturers in order to guarantee parts to customers over the
long run.
News outlets have been skeptical about Japan’s prospects
in this regard. Even Sankei Shimbun, which tends to support government policy,
has been harsh in its reporting of the issue, saying that the Boei Sobi-cho is
not up to the job. Since its creation, the agency has had two commissioners,
neither of whom has international experience. The agency’s handling of possible
sales of radar systems to Thailand is a case in point. Thailand’s present
system is superannuated and Mitsubishi Electronics’ FPS-3 seems ideal, but
Thailand is also negotiating a purchase of submarines from China, which Sankei
believes will try to interfere with the radar deal since it involves Japan.
Tokyo Shimbun reporter Isoko Mochizuki has made Japan’s
arms sales ambitions her main field of interest for the past several years and
published a book on the subject. In their desperation to restore
Japan’s reputation for superior manufacturing through arms exports, the
government, she thinks, fails to see the whole picture. Japan’s Self-Defense Forces were against the Australian
submarine deal because of the top-secret technology involved.
Australia’s main trading partner, after all, is China.
More to the point, Mochizuki asks if Japan is prepared to
receive the kind of condemnation hurled at countries that stake a good portion
of their economic well-being on arms sales. Japan’s academic community mostly
resists the government’s requests to conduct military-related research, but
manufacturers are willing to churn out product — the business lobby Keidanren has
been asking the government to ease arms export restrictions for years. However,
when Mochizuki speaks to manufacturers they only talk about money and know-how,
and never the ultimate purpose of their product, which is to assist in
conflicts that invariably kill people. As one executive of a weapons maker told
her, these companies, as well as Japanese citizens, have to be ready to be
called “merchants of death” and, after 70 years of pacifism, he
doesn’t think they are.
Last February, the Network Against Japan
Arms Trade petitioned Kawasaki Heavy Industries to not take part in a
proposed sale of patrol aircraft to New Zealand. The company told Tokyo Shimbun they couldn’t comment on the petition
because such matters are decided by the government, but the deal may be dead in
the water anyway.
Original post: japantimes.co.jp
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Kawasaki C-2: Details
Kawasaki P-1: Details
ShinMaywa US-2: Details
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