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| ShinMaywa US-2 (Image: Wiki Commons) |
By Franz-Stefan Gady
Tokyo’s first arms exhibition in decades illustrates its ambitions to become a global supplier of military hardware.
Japan’s first arms exhibition since the end of World War II is currently underway in the port city of Yokohama, in close proximity to the U.S. and Japanese naval bases in Yokosuka.
The three-day event (May 13-15), co-organized by the Japanese government and a private British company as well as supported by the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet Command and the Australian Department of Defense, is meant to promote Japan’s advanced arms industry and is particularly focused on maritime security and surveillance, as well as disasters and rescue operations.
Amidst growing regional tensions, the Japanese government lifted a self-imposed weapons export ban last April, although Tokyo cautioned that it will “continue to adhere to the course it has taken to date as a peace-loving country.”
The arms fair also coincided with the adaptation of two bills by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet that would ease the deployment of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces abroad (see: “Japan’s Global SDF Will Need These Two Laws”).
Read the full story at The Diplomat