News Story: Japan's R&D misfire for defense reform

Kawasaki C-2 Cargo Aircraft (File Photo)

By: Paul Kallender-Umezu 

TOKYO — Since the October 2015 establishment of the 1,800-strong Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency, Japan’s Ministry of Defense has been attempting to streamline its acquisition process and facilitate private-sector research and development. Results have been mixed.

In doing so, the MoD launched a new program to funnel more spending to Japanese scientists. The same year, ¥300 million (U.S. $2.7 million) was budgeted for the program. That doubled to ¥600 million (U.S. $5.4 million) in fiscal year 2016 and is set to rise to ¥11 billion (U.S. $98 million) in fiscal year 2017 as the MoD tries to build a research cadre in Japan’s academic sector that will benefit defense procurement later.

The establishment of the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency, or ATLA, came on top of an April 2014 relaxation of defense export rules allowing cases that will contribute to global peace and serve Japan’s security interests, leading to the July 2014 sale of Patriot Advanced Capability-2 missile interceptors to the United States. ATLA’s new job is to try to better connect disparate R&D efforts to produce new outputs.

“We understand that China is very active, and we always want to stay ahead and secure technological superiority, and we are using this fund more actively to stimulate research in industry and academia,” said Takahiro Yoshida, director of ATLA’s Aircraft Project Management division.

Backers of the new strategy are banking ability or likelihood of success based on leveraging a series of Japanese civil technologies such as robotics, AI and machine learning and advanced materials, said Steven Ganyard, president of Avascent Global Advisors.

“The rise of a belligerent China and [North Korea] means that Japan can no longer afford a defense procurement process divorced from reality. Japan builds … products like C-2, P-1 and F-2 when they could be buying the best in the world for a fraction of the price. No other country in the world operates like this,” he said.

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News Story: SDF aircraft deviates from runway during training at Yonago airport

Kawasaki C-2 Cargo AirCraft

TOTTORI, Japan (Kyodo) -- An Air Self-Defense Force plane deviated from its path during takeoff training Friday at Yonago airport in western Japan, stopping in a nearby grass field and prompting brief closure of the runway.

The C-2 transport plane became uncontrollable with its brakes failing to work and went into the grass field after cutting across the runway around 6:40 a.m., according to the ASDF's Miho base in Tottori Prefecture. Its six-strong crew was unhurt.

The runway was reopened about three hours later after the aircraft was removed from near the runway, the base said. The ASDF and police are investigating the cause of the accident.

Read the full story at The Mainichi

News Story: Japan's SDF deploys largest-ever military transport aircraft

TOKYO, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) on Thursday held a ceremony at Miho Air Base in Tottori Prefecture, western Japan, to mark the official deployment there of three new C-2 transport aircraft.

The three advanced military transport aircraft, the largest transport planes operated by the Self-Defense Forces here, are designed and manufactured by Japan-based Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) and are to replace its smaller C-1 predecessor.

Japan's Air Self-Defense Force plans to have 10 of the transport aircraft deployed at the base by March 2021, with KHI having already taken orders for 40 C-2s to be built.

With similar dimensions and payload capacity to the Airbus A400M, Japan's Air Self-Defense Force's procurement of the twin-engine jet is purportedly to boost its transportation capacity.

Col. Yasuji Kitamura, the highest-ranking official at the Miho base, said that the role of the C-2 would be important in reinforcing aviation transportation capacity.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: (NZ) Defence Force mystified by report it has started negotiations with Japan over aircraft order

Kawasaki P-1 Maritime Patrol Aircraft

TOM PULLAR-STRECKER

The Defence Force has shot down a Japanese report that Japan and United States company Boeing are already in a "one-on-one fight" to supply maritime patrol aircraft worth more than $1 billion to the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

The Government confirmed in November that it planned to replace its fleet of six Orion maritime patrol aircraft, five Hercules transporters and two Boeing 757s within about the next 10 years. 

The Nikkei Asian Review reported New Zealand would make a decision on replacement aircraft as "early as this [northern] summer".

Kawasaki C-2 Cargo AirCraft

Representatives from the Japanese Defence Ministry and Kawasaki Heavy Industries visited Wellington last week to negotiate the sale of Kawasaki's P-1 patrol aircraft and C-2 transporters in what would be Japan's biggest-ever arms export deal, it said.

But a Defence Force spokesman said it had not received such a visit and it was "not involved in any negotiations with the Japanese Government or Kawasaki Heavy Industries". He also indicated there would be no decision on replacement aircraft this year.

Read the full story at Stuff

News Story: Japan in talks with New Zealand for defense aircraft

Kawasaki P-1 Maritime Patrol Aircraft

Tokyo aiming for its first major arms contract

TOKYO -- Japan is in negotiations with New Zealand to export the Self-Defense Forces' patrol and transport aircraft, in hopes of beating out U.S. and European competition to score its first large-scale arms contract.

The deal will also involve the maintenance of the planes, and is potentially worth billions of dollars. Tokyo in September provided unclassified information on the P-1 maritime patrol plane and C-2 transporter, both developed by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, in response to Wellington's requests.

Kawasaki C-2 Cargo Aircraft

Representatives from Japan's defense ministry and Kawasaki Heavy are in New Zealand for negotiations. Japan could come up with a proposal in the first half of 2017 concerning the price, production process and maintenance of the planes. It will also consider jointly producing certain parts with New Zealand.

New Zealand will choose the winning bid as early as this summer out of a pool including American and European proposals. The Japanese government will also negotiate a treaty with New Zealand to allow the transfer of defense equipment and technology, a prerequisite to the potential deal.

Read the full story at Nikkei

News Story: Renewing RNZAF’s fixed-wing fleet

by Gordon Arthur

Responses to two New Zealand RfIs for both transport and maritime patrol aircraft are due on 30 September.

The Future Air Mobility Capability (FAMC) requirement is seeking a ‘no less than…equivalent’ replacement capability for five Lockheed Martin C-130H Hercules and two Boeing 757-200 transport aircraft of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF).

At the same time, the Future Air Surveillance Capability (FASC) will replace six in-service P-3K2 Orion maritime patrol aircraft.

The separate RfIs are interested in any ‘potential synergies between these two projects that would optimise platform operation, training and through-life logistics support’.

The RNZAF wants strategic and tactical airlift that may combine a mix of up to two different aircraft types. First delivery of the Hercules replacement is required by February 2020, with full operational capability to be achieved no later than 2024.

Read the full story at Shephard

News Story: Japan Seeks More Prominent Role in 'Global Defense and Security'

By Martin Banks

BRUSSELS — Japan's ambassador to the EU says Tokyo plans to take a much bigger role in "shouldering the burden of global defense and security."

Speaking in Brussels, Keiichi Katakami said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is seeking to allow the country's military forces to play a more active role in self-defense, peacekeeping and conflict prevention.

"The world faces growing security international threats and Japan wants to play a leading role in combating this." Katakami said.

Katakami, Japan's top diplomat in Brussels, cited closer cooperation with the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy as one example of where Japan might flex its military power in the future. He was speaking on Tuesday at a high-level conference, organized by the EU-Asia Centre, on "Japan's changing international role."

"Japan and the rest of the world are facing fresh challenges by those who choose to use force and intimidation and Japan," said Shingo Yamagami, director general of the Japan Institute of International Affairs.

The event heard that Japan, which had once been regarded as a passive international actor, was now taking a more prominent role on regional and global security.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

Editorial: Japan Approves Record Defense Budget

By Franz-Stefan Gady

Japanese defense spending will increase 1.5 percent during the next fiscal year.

The cabinet of Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved a record 5.05 trillion yen ($41.4 billion) defense budget for fiscal year 2016/2017 and slightly below the 5.09 trillion yen requested by Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MOD), The Japan Times reports. This marks the fourth consecutive rise in defense spending since Shinzo Abe assumed office in December 2012.

The rise in the defense budget is primarily driven by a weakened yen, higher personnel costs and an increase in expenses for the planned relocation of the U.S. Marine Corp’s Futenma air base in Okinawa Prefecture, which increased from 24.4 billion yen for the current fiscal year to 59.5 billion yen under what is known as “SACO (Special Action Committee on Okinawa)-related expenses.”

The Diplomat reported in September:

When you take “SACO-related expenses” out of the equation, the actual spending that JMOD has proposed for itself is approximately 4.93 trillion yen ($41.4 billion) — comparable to what Tokyo spent on defense in 2002.

Defense spending for the next fiscal year starting in April 2016 will be heavily focused on solidifying Japan’s position in the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands – an island chain administered by Tokyo in the East China Sea—by investing in additional amphibious warfare capabilities.

Read the full story at The Diplomat

News Story: Japan considers creation of a state-backed agency for weapons exports

According to Reuters, Japan is considering creating a government-backed financing arm for weapons exports, a move that would accelerate Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's shift away from the country's pacifist past and strengthen Tokyo's regional security ties as China's military power grows.

As a first step, the government plans to convene an advisory panel to consider specific proposals to create a way to finance military sales by Japanese firms and fund defense industry cooperation abroad, four people involved told Reuters.

One possibility to be considered is for a government-backed body to provide concessional financing for military projects modeled on the self-financing Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), said the people involved.

They asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of talks on a move that would likely upset China, where memories of Japan's wartime past run deep and which has already criticized Abe's decision in April to end a decades-old ban on arms exports.

Read the full story at Army Recognition

News Story: Japan approves export of military equipment with sensors for missiles and submarine development

Kawasaki C-2 Transport Aircraft (Image: Airliners.net)

Japanese military contractors are taking their first steps toward selling weapons abroad since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe relaxed an export ban, a politically sensitive shift for a nation that long hesitated to turn its technology prowess into arms-sales profits.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Defense approved exports of a sensor made by Japan's largest military contractor, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. for use in air-defense missiles manufactured by Raytheon Co. of the U.S. The ministry also cleared a Japan-Britain research project involving technology for air-to-air missiles.

A week earlier, Mr. Abe and Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia signed an agreement to collaborate on submarine development. Analysts say the deal could give Australia access to a propulsion technology that allows Japanese submarines, built by Mitsubishi Heavy and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., to remain submerged for unusually long periods. 

The government says Japanese arms manufacturers need to be able to export in order to lower the country's high cost of procuring weapons. Because the industry is fragmented and production runs are small, Japan sometimes pays twice or three times as much as other countries' armed forces for comparable weapons, analysts say. And the country has been mostly cut off from international weapons-development joint ventures, which are increasingly used for complex, expensive weapons systems.

Read the full story at Army Recognition