A Japanese consortium eyeing a A$50 billion ($35.68 billion) contract to build submarines for Australia irked local suppliers by failing to share key information about its proposal or discuss specific collaboration possibilities during a visit last week, executives at Australian firms said.
The apparent missteps underscore Japan's inexperience in bidding for global defense deals after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ended a decades-old ban on weapons exports last year as part of his more muscular security agenda.
Japanese defense officials and executives from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries visited Adelaide, an Australian ship-building hub, to lobby for one of the world's most lucrative defense contracts.