Japan and the US have taken their security association to a new height, an activity that might both create and escalate strains in the Asia-Pacific region, experts stated. In a series of sessions held in Tokyo, the two countries arranged to set up working parties on joint missile production, warship and aircraft restorations and supply chain resiliency to boost defence industry cooperation.
US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel called the East Asian country’s engineering, industrial and manufacturing capacity “a major significant development” for the US defence industry while admitting that “the US military-industrial base cannot meet all the security challenges”. The US is currently facing a shortage of ammunition, which is largely attributed to its support for Ukraine and Israel, and is also grappling with the challenge of augmenting its Patriot missile production capacity.
The Patriot, a surface-to-air guided missile system, is developed by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries under permission from US defence contractors Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies. The Japanese government assured that it would send Patriot missiles to the US after amending its arms export rules. Japanese and US defence officials reflected for the first time in Tokyo at the Defense Industrial Cooperation, Acquisition and Sustainment Forum, which was appointed based on an understanding reached between Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and US President Joe Biden during their summit in April.
The US needs Japan, “the frontline of defence in East Asia”, to improve its warships and aircraft, so that they can be returned to function quickly, Emanuel stated. The first working party meeting on the maintenance and repair of forward-deployed US warships at Japanese commercial buildings was held on June 11. The working company meeting on US aircraft repairs is designed for August, he said. Liu Qingbin, an ex-professor at Yokohama National University’s Institute of Advanced Sciences, stated the US ambassador is utilising “China’s capacity in shipbuilding as a justification to build US-Japan military cooperation”.
Masaki Fukasawa, the commissioner of the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency of Japan’s Defense Ministry, stated that increasing the opportunities for US naval ships to undergo maintenance, restoration and overhaul at Japanese shipyards would assist the readiness of US forces and support the deterrence of the alliance as a whole.
Japanese analysts, however, said concerns over Washington operating Tokyo as a key partner to expand its military production. Japan may end up performing as a subcontractor because its defence industry is vulnerable, they expressed. Atsushi Koketsu, professor emeritus at Yamaguchi University of Japan, stated that Japan’s defence policy is increasingly floating away from the country’s pacifist Constitution, which prohibits the use of force as a means to resolve international disputes.
