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| SM-3 Navy Surface-to-Air Missile |
By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR.
Japan and the US just threw open the door to arms sales between the two longtime allies, something Japan had long resisted. The deal is the latest sign of how fear of a rising China is pushing Japan away from its post-World War II pacifism. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and his Japanese counterpart Gen Nakatani quietly signed the Reciprocal Defense Procurement (RDP) pact Friday on the sidelines of the Shangri-la Dialogue, where Carter called for an “inclusive (and) principled security network” linking longstanding treaty allies like Japan with newer partners such as Singapore.
With this agreement, Japan becomes the first Asian nation to join 23 existing RDP signatories— including Israel, Egypt, Sweden, and many NATO members — whose defense products are exempted from Buy America laws and other protectionist provisions. Joining that club is a major achievement for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has (controversially) sought to make Japan a more “normal” nation, able to cooperate with foreign partners in both military operations and production. The RDP is also a major achievement for a country that outright banned its industries from selling arms abroad until two years ago.
“DOD has been trying to negotiate a reciprocal agreement with the Japanese for decades, but the big hurdle has been the ‘reciprocal’ part of this: the Japanese being willing to export technology … and the willingness to open up their defense market,” said a Hill staffer. “The implications for two way defense cooperation – particularly in missile defense technology – could be pretty significant.”
Read the full story at Breaking Defense