Japan defense review could help contractors to compete globally
Japan’s promised review of its longstanding ban on arms exports, as part of a push for a more robust military, could help make its defense contractors more globally competitive by reducing costs and expanding markets.
The Defense Ministry said on Friday it would review a decades-old self-imposed ban on arms exports and take action as needed. Media reports have said Japan could issue new guidelines to replace the ban, which has already been eased several times.
A lack of clear guidelines on what arms gear could be sold, and to whom, by firms such as the builder of the wartime Zero fighter, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, submarine maker Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd and licensed Apache helicopter maker Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd, has held up efforts to translate the policy shifts into actual deals.
Japan’s promised review of its longstanding ban on arms exports, as part of a push for a more robust military, could help make its defense contractors more globally competitive by reducing costs and expanding markets.
The Defense Ministry said on Friday it would review a decades-old self-imposed ban on arms exports and take action as needed. Media reports have said Japan could issue new guidelines to replace the ban, which has already been eased several times.
A lack of clear guidelines on what arms gear could be sold, and to whom, by firms such as the builder of the wartime Zero fighter, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, submarine maker Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd and licensed Apache helicopter maker Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd, has held up efforts to translate the policy shifts into actual deals.