Talks on easing Japan defense export rules pushed back to March

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party and junior coalition partner Komeito have decided to postpone talks over whether or not to allow the export to third countries of defense equipment jointly developed with partner nations — including a planned next-generation fighter jet — until sometime in March.

During talks Wednesday within the ruling bloc, the two sides failed to reach an agreement on revisions to the defense export restrictions, with the government saying they would proceed with careful discussions in March in order to deepen public understanding over any potential shift.

The LDP had hoped to reach a deal with Komeito on the revisions by the end of February, noting that Japan is scheduled to launch full-fledged talks with Britain and Italy in March over the development system and the division of tasks for their new fighter jet program.

The hotly anticipated program is expected to deliver a joint sixth-generation fighter jet by 2035.

But Komeito's views on the issue had hardened since November.

The lay Buddhist-backed party is apparently looking to win over its more moderate base, which has more liberal views about defense issues than the conservative LDP.

Still, the odds appeared good that an agreement could be reached in the first half of March, when the next talks are expected to be held.

"Both sides' ideas and directions have become much closer,” LDP policy chief Kisaburo Tokai was quoted as saying.

Tokai’s Komeito counterpart, Yosuke Takagi, echoed this sentiment.

"It’s clear that the distance between the two sides has narrowed considerably,” he said. “We hope to reach an agreement as soon as possible.”

It was not immediately apparent how the delay would impact the three-nation fighter jet talks, but the government’s top spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, told a news conference Wednesday that Tokyo would “work closely” with London and Rome to see the program through.

Japan’s revision of its defense export guidelines is critical for the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP), as the supersonic jet is not only meant to replace aging Air Self-Defense Force F-2 fighters, as well as British and Italian Eurofighters, but also for export.

In an exclusive interview at last week’s Singapore Airshow, a BAE Systems’ representative working on the program told The Japan Times that GCAP — formally launched in December 2022 — has been designed from the onset with foreign sales in mind.

“The program philosophy and every conversation we've had with our partners from the beginning has been that this product is also meant for export,” said Jonathan Moreton, who also works as the company’s liaison officer with Japan.

BAE Systems is one of the three companies expected to be lead system integrators in the joint multibillion-dollar program, alongside Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Italy’s Leonardo.

These firms are set to be part of an industrial construct that is expected to be launched from the end of this year and meant to deliver the program while working closely together with another key entity, the GCAP International Government Organization (GIGO).

GIGO is the intergovernmental body designed to manage the project and agree on joint roles and responsibilities between the trilateral partners, critical aspects that are set to be discussed in greater detail during meetings in March.

“We’ve got an export strategy and will continue to develop it as we stand up GIGO and the industrial construct,” said Moreton, without elaborating on the potential customers the program has in mind.

Industry officials have said they are close to completing the aircraft’s conceptual design phase, pointing out that this will allow them to move to the next stage of the program in 2025 — the design and development phase — which is expected to last five years and lead to the maiden flight of the first test aircraft from around 2030.

GCAP marks Japan's first collaboration with countries other than the United States to meet a major defense requirement as Tokyo seeks to deepen defense cooperation and partnerships with like-minded nations across the globe amid what it described as an “increasingly severe” international security environment.

The stealthy, twin-engine jet is expected to function as both a combat aircraft and a flying command center capable of controlling and coordinating other — likely autonomous — assets, with the aircraft viewed as “the centerpiece of a wider combat air system that will function across multiple domains.”

In terms of interoperability, the fighter is also being designed with the U.S. military and other NATO forces in mind, since Japan, Italy and the United Kingdom all hope to employ the fighter in joint operations with allies and partners.

To speed up the development process, the jet is expected to benefit from the latest advancements in design and engineering technology, with the project set to rely heavily on integrated digital engineering processes.

The adoption of these technologies will allow for round-the-clock work across different locations and time zones.