Behind Japan's Big Arms Buy
How Washington Is Militarizing Its Asian Ally
Article Summary and Author Biography
With the recent deal to sell F-35 fighter jets to Japan, the United States has bulked up its main regional ally against China while still cutting its own defense budget by a planned $487 billion.
HUMZA AHMAD is the speechwriter at the Consulate General of Japan in New York and a Nonresident Fellow at Asia Policy Point. The views expressed here are his own and do not represent the views of the Japanese Government.
Comment
With India planning to buy $100 billion worth of new weapons over the next ten years, arms sales may be the best way to revive Washington's relationship with New Delhi, its most important strategic partner in the region.
Snapshot
Japan's recent territorial tussles with China and South Korea and the election of the conservative Shinzo Abe as prime minister have the world worrying that the country is taking a hawkish turn. In practice, however, Tokyo's new government will toe a moderate line and concentrate on strengthening its diplomatic ties.
(Yuri Gripas / Courtesy Reuters)
Last December, Tokyo announced that it would purchase Lockheed-Martin's F-35 Lightning II as its next-generation jet fighter. In doing so, it disappointed BAE Systems, the European maker of the Eurofighter Typhoon, which had hoped to win the $4.7 billion contract itself. For a while, it seemed as though it might. The Lockheed deal had its downsides: Initially, Japanese firms would have played no role in producing the new jets; likewise, they would not have had access to the secret technologies used in the F-35's design. It was not until Lockheed agreed to allow domestic contractors to participate in building the new jets and share some top-secret technologies that Japan decided to make the deal. In retrospect, that move should never have been in much doubt. The contract closely follows Japanese defense policy precedent: acquiring the most advanced American military hardware available under licensing agreements, producing that hardware in Japan to boost the economy, and keeping the U.S.-Japan alliance tight, positing Japan as a buffer between the United States and the region's major powers...
