TOKYO, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Tokyo expressed concerned that the F-35 Lightning sales, which contain Japanese components, might violate Japanese legal prohibitions on weapons exports to designated countries.
The F-35 Lightning II is a fifth-generation, single-seat, single-engine Joint Strike Fighters under development by U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp.
Japan's draft fiscal 2013 budget adopted by the government this month sets aside $330 million to acquire two F-35s, the first to be manufactured with the participation of Japanese companies.
At a news conference this week in Tokyo Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera admitted that F-35s that use Japanese parts may be exported to Israel, which would conflict with the government's three principles on arms exports, which ban exports to Communist countries, nations subject to U.N. Security Council arms export embargoes resolutions and countries involved in or likely to be involved in international conflicts.
Regarding the potential impasse, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that maintaining consistency with the ban is "under discussion within the government," Asahi Shimbun reported Wednesday.
Read the full story at UPI