Japan is considering lifting an export ban on weapons jointly produced with other countries, paving the way for shipment of fighter jets being developed with Britain and Italy to other nations, sources close to the matter said Tuesday.
To realize such weapon sales, the working group of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, Komeito, is planning to restart their discussions on relaxing the country's strict rules for defense equipment exports in the latter half of August, instead of the fall as initially planned, according to the sources.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told lawmakers of the working group that his government will soon present its view on the transfer of defense equipment and technology and asked the group members to resume their talks on the matter.