TOKYO: Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (pic) said Japan and its allies should deepen cooperation in the development of weapons and other defence equipment as threats mount across the Asia-Pacific region.
"It is difficult for any one country to defend itself alone, and this may be true for the US as well,” Ishiba said in a speech on Thursday (May 22) at a major defence industry conference just outside Tokyo.
"We should establish a strong relationship with our allies of defense equipment cooperation, including the transfer of such equipment, joint development and joint production,” he said.
Trump administration plans to develop the "Golden Dome” missile defense system to defend the US from potential attack highlight growing global concerns over the missile threat from countries such as China and North Korea.
Japan is also plowing money into defense systems, including a joint project with the US to develop an interceptor to destroy hypersonic missiles, which have been flight tested by China and which are hard for existing defense systems to defend against.
Japan is aiming to boost its defense industry by means of a sharp increase in military spending. In 2022, Tokyo pledged ¥43 trillion (US$300 billion) to a military build-up that would span five years, aiming to raise defense spending to around 2% of gross domestic product from a long-held stance of keeping it around 1%.
In another international partnership with the UK and Italy, Japan is developing a sixth generation fighter jet that is scheduled for deployment in 2035.
The pace of technological change in military equipment and the financial burden involved mean that countries with similar values have to work together, Ishiba said.
"It’s become impossible for one country to bear the costs and the risk of research and development alone,” he said in a keynote address at the Defense and Security Equipment International conference.
"Technology is advancing rapidly, and it is not an overstatement to say that technology used in the morning is obsolete by the evening,” he said.
DSEI is Japan’s largest defense industry conference, featuring global defense contractors and a growing number of Japanese companies entering the sector or expanding their defense businesses. - Bloomberg
