Japan May Join Next-Generation Stealth Jet Project
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, TOKYO
Japan is considering joining the U.S.-led project to build the world’s most advanced combat jet, the F-35, after this month, ending its decades-old ban on military exports, a newspaper said Dec. 24.
A dozen other U.S. allies are already taking part in the Joint Strike Fighter program, including Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Singapore and Turkey.
The U.S. government has appointed defense contractor Lockheed Martin to build the F-35, which will be a supersonic, multiple-role warplane.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s cabinet, the Defense Agency and the Trade Ministry will hold further talks over Japan’s participation in the program before seeking approval of the ruling coalition, the Sankei Shimbun reported, quoting a defense industry source.
“It is now difficult for a single country to be engaged in such development,†the unnamed source told the newspaper.
A Defense Agency spokesman, however, told AFP the government has not “officially begun consideration of such international military development.â€
Japan cleared the way for such projects by establishing new defense guidelines this month, asserting that the country needs “multi-function, flexible defense capabilities†to deal with new threats, such as terrorist and missile attacks.
The guidelines ended Japan’s self-imposed ban on weapons exports, saying Tokyo could sell missile components to the United States, with other military sales to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
A Dec. 23 press report said Japan is considering exporting decommissioned destroyers to Singapore and Malaysia.
The constitution imposed by U.S. occupiers after World War II said Japan would forever renounce war. Koizumi’s government has eyed revising Japan’s official pacifism and sent troops on a reconstruction mission to Iraq.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=572464&C=asiapac
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This reinforces what I have said with respect to China and the submarine issues, survey vessel issue etc... China has overstepped the line for Japan and they are now moving to block at appropriate levels.
Japan has been sending the oriental equivalent of "warning messages" for the last 6 months in respected papers such as the Japan Times. I would suspect that some strategists within the PLA are doing some fast explaining at the moment.
China has just put herself in a flanking manouvre. japan has the most powerful conventional fleet in the world, her military spending dwarfs that of China, and she is able to go nuclear within 6 months (considering the way that she stores her fuel and processes it). We did an assessment a few years back and established that she could go nuclear within 6 months and surpass chinese weapons numbers between a further 6-12 months with minimal effort. her storage could see her build weapons stocks greater than the french or israelis (who outpace China curently). Anyone who questions that Japan would look at nuclear weapons should bear in mind that this has been coming up frequently in the last 2 months, was re-raisded when the Chinese sub was in her EEZ and that Japan has already made changes to her defensive posture that people have said for 30+ years would never happen.
The winds are changing direction.
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, TOKYO
Japan is considering joining the U.S.-led project to build the world’s most advanced combat jet, the F-35, after this month, ending its decades-old ban on military exports, a newspaper said Dec. 24.
A dozen other U.S. allies are already taking part in the Joint Strike Fighter program, including Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Singapore and Turkey.
The U.S. government has appointed defense contractor Lockheed Martin to build the F-35, which will be a supersonic, multiple-role warplane.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s cabinet, the Defense Agency and the Trade Ministry will hold further talks over Japan’s participation in the program before seeking approval of the ruling coalition, the Sankei Shimbun reported, quoting a defense industry source.
“It is now difficult for a single country to be engaged in such development,†the unnamed source told the newspaper.
A Defense Agency spokesman, however, told AFP the government has not “officially begun consideration of such international military development.â€
Japan cleared the way for such projects by establishing new defense guidelines this month, asserting that the country needs “multi-function, flexible defense capabilities†to deal with new threats, such as terrorist and missile attacks.
The guidelines ended Japan’s self-imposed ban on weapons exports, saying Tokyo could sell missile components to the United States, with other military sales to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
A Dec. 23 press report said Japan is considering exporting decommissioned destroyers to Singapore and Malaysia.
The constitution imposed by U.S. occupiers after World War II said Japan would forever renounce war. Koizumi’s government has eyed revising Japan’s official pacifism and sent troops on a reconstruction mission to Iraq.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=572464&C=asiapac
--0--
This reinforces what I have said with respect to China and the submarine issues, survey vessel issue etc... China has overstepped the line for Japan and they are now moving to block at appropriate levels.
Japan has been sending the oriental equivalent of "warning messages" for the last 6 months in respected papers such as the Japan Times. I would suspect that some strategists within the PLA are doing some fast explaining at the moment.
China has just put herself in a flanking manouvre. japan has the most powerful conventional fleet in the world, her military spending dwarfs that of China, and she is able to go nuclear within 6 months (considering the way that she stores her fuel and processes it). We did an assessment a few years back and established that she could go nuclear within 6 months and surpass chinese weapons numbers between a further 6-12 months with minimal effort. her storage could see her build weapons stocks greater than the french or israelis (who outpace China curently). Anyone who questions that Japan would look at nuclear weapons should bear in mind that this has been coming up frequently in the last 2 months, was re-raisded when the Chinese sub was in her EEZ and that Japan has already made changes to her defensive posture that people have said for 30+ years would never happen.
The winds are changing direction.
fftopic