"Japan Considers Exporting Next-Generation Fighter Jets to 15 Countries"

Countries with Equipment Transfer Agreements under the UN Charter
"The Ideal of a Peaceful Nation Fades" Criticism Also Raised

On the 15th, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported that Japan plans to export the next-generation fighter jet, jointly developed with the United Kingdom and Italy, to countries that have signed equipment transfer agreements.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

According to the report, Japan is considering limiting the export countries of the next-generation fighter jet to those that have signed equipment transfer agreements under the United Nations Charter. The countries under the agreement include the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Australia, India, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), totaling 15 countries.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) plans to discuss revising the operational guidelines of the Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment with its coalition partner, the Komeito Party, later that day. The Yomiuri assessed that if an agreement is smoothly reached, "the revision of the guidelines will be made at the National Security Council (NSC) ministerial meeting after the Cabinet meeting in late this month." In addition to the next-generation fighter jet, which is the subject of this revised guideline, any future international joint development weapon projects will require further consultation between the ruling parties.

Japan, the United Kingdom, and Italy agreed at the end of last year to jointly develop the next-generation fighter jet, which will be the successor model to Japan Air Self-Defense Force's F-2 fighter and the Eurofighter used by the UK and Italy, by 2035. The purpose is to strengthen security relations in response to China's military threat. This is the first time Japan has jointly developed defense equipment with a country other than the United States.

Based on its pacifist constitution, which explicitly renounces war, Japan has effectively prohibited arms exports. Even when the Abe administration established the Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment in 2014 to open a path for arms exports, it imposed safeguards by limiting equipment use to five categories: rescue, transport, surveillance, monitoring, and mine clearance. However, in December last year, the Japanese government revised the principles and operational guidelines on defense equipment transfer, gradually expanding the scope of restrictions, such as deciding to export domestically produced Patriot missiles to the United States for the first time. This has led to criticism within Japan that the ideal of a peaceful nation is becoming blurred.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.