In January, a top U.S. Marine general visited Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan to look at a prototype of an amphibious assault vehicle that could one day be a key pillar in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to sell weapons abroad.
Using engines adapted from the main battle tank the company makes for Japan's military and new water jet propulsion technology, the full-size prototype is undergoing pool tests, although it is in the early stages of development and production could be years off.
Nevertheless, the maker of the wartime Zero fighter plane is eyeing overseas sales after Abe lifted a decades-old ban on arms exports in April last year as part of his more muscular security agenda, two Japanese defence industry sources said.